


The Next Generation

by c_a_s



Category: Harry - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 08:09:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18912970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c_a_s/pseuds/c_a_s
Summary: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by J. K. Rowling. Many of the characters and much of the world described in this work are created and owned by J.K. Rowling and I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of Harry Potter.





	1. The Map

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by J. K. Rowling. Many of the characters and much of the world described in this work are created and owned by J.K. Rowling and I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of Harry Potter.

The sun is the finish line. Luka races towards it, the dark green trees passing underneath him in a blur, his white knuckles wrapped tightly around the wooden handle of his broomstick. The wind whips through his curly golden hair and deafens him. It pierces his skin like a million biting bullets. It makes his eyes sting as he stares at the faint blue line of the Pacific Ocean, illuminated by the western sun. Luka’s parents don’t allow him to fly this far, but he does anyways, like he always has, chasing the line of the horizon forever. He knows that if he flew far enough, he would eventually reach Japan and the rest of Asia, then pass over Europe and finally land right back where he started, but he wishes there was more. He wishes he could reach the strange blue line separating sky and sea, actually land on it, see what it truly is. He wishes it would come closer as he flew, rather than only ever seeming farther away.  
Suddenly, Luka stops. He and his broomstick hover over a small, almost unnoticeable clearing in the forest below him. His hands shake as familiarity and fear wash over him. He knows he shouldn’t go back, and in a way, he doesn’t want to. But he needs to talk to Caligo. He needs to understand what happened yesterday.  
Luka carefully lowers himself into the trees, landing on the crunchy forest floor. He props his broom up against a tree and walks slowly towards the clearing, where there is a very small house. No lights seem to be on in the house, but he knows that is no indicator of who is inside. He wishes he had a wand so he could protect himself if anything went wrong. Caligo has his own wand, even though he’s underage. Luka knows its unwise to break the law like that, but he’s always been slightly jealous of his friend for having that strange freedom. He shakes his head when his mind conjures that word. Freedom. Caligo was never free.  
Luka stares at the seemingly vacated house, his heart beating quickly. He walks to the front door and remembers the day, three years ago, that he first happened upon this place. And, to his own surprise, he knocks on the door just as curiously but perhaps not as fearlessly as he did that day. He gets the same answer as he did then. Silence. He knocks again, remembering that three years ago, his continued effort to discover who was inside led to him meeting his very best friend.  
“Hello? Caligo? It’s me, Luka. Are your parents gone? Please, open up! We need to talk.”  
Luka’s voice rings out through the forest, silencing the birds and making him feel even more alone. Finally, as anger replaces his fear, Luka throws the door open. His heart drops when he sees that the room is empty. Not only is Caligo not there, but neither is anything else that used to reside in this tiny, dark, musty house. He almost doesn’t want to look. He knows that if Caligo and all his things are gone, then they will not be coming back, and all Luka will have is his memories. He can still see the books on the shelf organized in a different way each day, see Caligo’s fingers as they sifted through the pages. He can hear his laugh as their heads hung off the edge of his bed, feel the blood in his own face. He can smell their dirty shoes soaked with river water drying by the door. He can hear the sound of Caligo’s breath while he slept on his dirty mattress, exhausted from days of playing.  
But now, there are no books on the bookshelf, only a few loose pages scattered on the floor. The chest of clothes is gone, and the mattress is taken. Nothing remains of Caligo or the secrets he harbored. Luka sighs and sits on the empty bed frame, fingering the slow-healing gash in his arm, his mind wandering to the incident that gave him the injury. He wishes he wouldn’t have come back here, but he knows that he would have spent the rest of his life wondering if Caligo was still here, waiting to explain to him what happened. Luka puts his face in his hands, tears building up in his eyes. Caligo is gone. It takes a few minutes for this reality to sink in, and every moment makes Luka feel worse. Caligo is gone. He is never coming back. Luka doesn’t know where he could have gone. The boy never told him anything about his life, where he’s lived previously, where he wants to go, or who his parents are. Luka has no clues.  
And that’s when he sees it. It’s one of the pages scattered on the dusty floor, most of which are from the books that Caligo read so often when he lived here. But one of them is most certainly not from his books. Luka walks forward and picks up the loose page, which he realizes is a map. It’s a world map. The continents are outlined in thick, black ink, and the countries are outlined as well, but without names. The only other things drawn on the map are a compass and eight black X’s marked all across the world. The first one he sees is in the United States, on the West Coast. He can tell almost immediately that the X lies in the exact same area of northern California he is now. The rest of the X’s are in different places, on almost every continent. It’s almost as if he and this small house are at the first of the seven X’s, and one of the other X’s is where Caligo went. Luka smiles, wiping the remnants of the tears on his face. He’s done it. He’s found a map to Caligo.  
Luka stands up to leave with a new fire burning in his heart. When he looks at the open door of the house, he sees a large black bird standing in the doorway and smiles. It’s a raven.

***

Luka returns home, eager to see where the other two X’s lie, and to start figuring out which X Caligo has fled to. But when he lands in his backyard, he sees both of his parents standing in the grass, their faces white.  
“Luka! Where have you been?” his father Damon asks, his gold-rimmed glasses slightly askew and his dirty blonde hair disheveled. “We’ve been calling for you!”  
“I’m sorry, Dad, I just went for a- “  
“We told you that you weren’t allowed to fly anymore. We specifically told you not to leave the house!”  
“I just needed some fresh air,” Luka grumbles without looking his father in the eye.  
“You can get fresh air in the yard,” Damon says. “Please, Luka, don’t do this to us. We were worried about you.”  
“What were you so worried about?” he asks defensively.  
“You got injured yesterday. You shouldn’t be out playing.”  
“It was just a cut, I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of it.”  
Damon only purses his lips in response, looking gravely at Luka’s mother, Anna, who stands a few feet beside him with her arms crossed.  
“We were just worried about you,” she says softly. Her dark, steady eyes pore into Luka with a strange empathy, and he softens.  
“I know,” he replies.  
“Well, now that you’re back,” Damons says, “me and your mother have something to discuss with you and Leila. Come inside.”  
Luka, now curious, follows his parents inside. They all sit at the kitchen table and Anna calls Leila down from her room. Within seconds, she’s walking down the narrow staircase next to the kitchen, her long dark hair the only visible part of her. Then, she sits down next to Luka, across from her mother, who she appears to be an exact mirror of, except for her size.  
“What’s going on?” she asks suspiciously.  
Damon and Anna look at each other.  
“We have to tell you two something very important,” Anna says. She appears hesitant to continue, as though she needs to disclaim more, but Damon continues for her.  
“We have decided to move to England.”  
The impact of the statement hits Luka with a brutal force that disappears as quickly as it came, dissipating into confusion.  
“What do you mean?” he asks.  
“We’re not going to live in California anymore. We’re looking at a house in London right now,” Anna says.  
“But why?” Leila asks.  
“Because of many things,” Damon replies. “For one, the Ministry of Magic in England has offered me an incredible position, one that I would be a fool to turn down.”  
“But you work for MACUSA,” Luka says.  
“Yes, but my job here does not pay nearly as well, and frankly, I haven’t been liking it very much.”  
“It’s not just that, either,” Anna adds. “If we move to London, I’ll be able to work at the Scamander Center for Ailing Magical Animals, like I’ve always dreamed.”  
“But what about your apothecary here?” Leila asks.  
“My apprentice is ready, I believe, to take over for me. That’s what I’ve been training him for.”  
“But what about Ilvermorny?” Luka asks. Saying the question out loud makes his heart drop even further into his stomach.  
“Well, Ilvermorny only enrolls students who live in North America. So, you would attend Hogwarts, like I did,” Damon says, smiling hopefully. Luka only feels worse at this.  
“But I’m supposed to go to Ilvermorny in three days!”  
“I know,” Damon says. “We have tomorrow to pack and say goodbye, the next day to travel and buy your school supplies, and the next day you’ll go on the train to Hogwarts.”  
“What? How can you do this to me? I don’t want to go to Hogwarts!” Luka cries. “I’ve always wanted to go to Ilvermorny! All my friends are going there! Why do we have to do this?”  
Luka doesn’t mean to yell. In order to stop his rage from snowballing, he flies up the stairs and storms into his bedroom. He doesn’t want to start a fight with his parents, but it feels like he’s bursting out of his own skin. Luka spent his whole childhood moving around the world. Until he was seven years old, he and his family had never lived in one place for more than a few months. He enjoyed travelling the world, seeing new places, meeting new people, but when they finally settled down here in California, Luka realized the benefits of having a real home. Now, those same benefits are being taken from him, and it’s all happening just as he’s dealing with Caligo’s departure and the strange incident from yesterday. Luka collapses on his bed and stares up at the magical model of the solar system levitating inches below the ceiling. Nine variously colored and sized orbs surround one large ball of light. Luka gets lost in thought looking at them, dreaming hopefully that he could move to Mars instead of moving England, instead of going to Hogwarts, instead of thinking about Caligo.  
There’s a knock at the door. Luka jerks and says, “Come in.”  
It’s his mother. She steps through the doorway with a soft smile.  
“Mom. Hey.”  
“You left us hanging back there,” she says, not as an accusation.  
“I’m sorry. I got angry.”  
“It’s okay. I know why you’re angry.”  
“You do?”  
“Of course,” she smiles. “You’ve spent half your life here at Pineglow Cove. You grew up in this house, in these woods, at this beach. Look.” Anna points to the wall of Luka’s bedroom that is completely covered in photos of him, his family, and his friends. There are no pictures of Caligo.  
“This is your life, Luka. Look at all the good times we’ve had here. Look at all the people who love you. Of course you would be sad to leave. I would be too. I am, in fact.”  
“Then why are you doing this?” Luka asks.  
“Because there’s no point in reliving dreams over and over. At some point, we have to make new memories. California has been very good to us, but I think London will be even better. I know you’re scared, but when has Luka Jones ever been too scared to go on an adventure?”  
Luka smiles. “Never.”  
“Exactly. This is just another adventure. Do you agree?”  
“Yes.”  
“Are you still scared?”  
Luka sighs. He looks at the photos on his wall. In most of the images is a boy named Sam, who, in every photo, is laughing and hugging him. The photos also depict a girl named Georgia, who, in one image, is jumping off a cliff with Luka into a lake, and in another, is doing cartwheels on the beach. And there are photos with other friends, ones Luka’s had for years and ones he’s only just made. There are photos where all of them surround him and his family, clinking their glasses together in celebration of one holiday or another. He looks at all of it, understanding that now, these are only just memories. And that’s the scariest thing he can think of.  
“No, I’m not scared.”  
“Good,” Anna says. “I’m proud of you, you know.”  
“Thanks, Mom.”  
Anna hugs her son, and he feels warm. He is still scared, but wonders if maybe his mom is right, if London will just be another adventure.  
“So tomorrow, we’re packing up and throwing a party, and we’ll say goodbye to all of our friends. Then, the next day, we’re leaving. Does that sound okay?”  
Luka nods.  
“Good. Now get some rest.”  
“Okay. Goodnight, Mom.”  
“Goodnight, sweetie.”  
Luka takes off his shoes and crawls under the covers of his bed, and when Anna snaps her fingers before leaving, the sun hovering below the ceiling burns out, and Luka is left in darkness. But after a few minutes, he crawls back out of bed and snaps. The light turns on again, and he scrambles to his desk. He looks at the map he placed on his desk and then fishes out his own world map. He spots the X that appears to be somewhere in the U.K. He compares the labelless map to his own, and sees that the X lies right on the city of London. Luka grins. All the fear he felt only moments ago is replaced by pure excitement. It turns out London will be an adventure, after all.


	2. The White Kitten

Luka’s parents are incredibly busy the next day, but he and sister barely notice since they, too, are busy with preparing to move. Luka spends most of the time in his room, going through his things and wishing he could use magic to fit them all in his suitcase. It takes about half the day to get everything from his room into his bags or in a separate bin for storage. By afternoon, Luka’s room only contains his bare furniture and a few bits of paper and dust on the floor. It reminds Luka painfully of Caligo’s hastily vacated home. But that pain is lessened when he remembers that he is on the road to discovering where his friend went.  
Damon and Anna return home that afternoon having set up a Portkey with MACUSA, packed up all their things, put down rent for their new house in London, and officially enrolled Luka at Hogwarts. By the time the sun begins to fall, the family is ready to have their going away party.  
Luka never realized how many friends he and his family made here. Sam, Georgia, and all of his other friends attend the party, along with Leila’s younger group of friends and Damon and Anna’s many acquaintances. The party feels surreal. The setting sun basks everyone in a nostalgic glow, and the sentimental tone of the party (and possibly the alcohol served to the adults) makes it feel slow, as though each conversation is happening underwater, as though each goodbye is lasting forever. Everyone promises him that their goodbyes are temporary, but for some reason Luka can’t see into the future they’re looking towards. All he sees in front of him is England, Hogwarts, and the journey of finding his true best friend.  
The next day, Luka’s family wakes up just before dawn, and with their luggage in tow, they go out their backdoor, through their backyard, and into the dark forest surrounding it. They walk for about five minutes through the thick wood, their feet crunching on the blanket of leaves below them. Luka finds it strange to be in these woods with his parents when he’s only ever been here alone, causing mischief with the friend they never even knew he had. It makes him uneasy.  
They finally approach a rusty hammer, and Damon stoops to grab it it. The rest of the family follows suit, and within seconds, the hammer begins to shake. Before Luka can prepare, the Portkey jerks him off the ground and he’s spinning much too quickly through space, and he feels as though he might vomit, but just before he does, he lands roughly on a grassy hill, his legs crumpling uncomfortably underneath him. He grabs his head to steady his vision, then rises to his feet and helps Leila onto hers.  
He and his family are in a field, and somehow the sun is already overhead, brightly lighting everything around him. Luka realizes that the time changed now that they’re on a different side of the planet.  
“Where are we going?” he asks. His father points to the west, where there is an outline of a few buildings on top of another hill. It takes about ten minutes to reach the first building, which seems like a dilapidated house at first. But when Luka steps inside, he realizes that the building is definitely under an Extension Charm, because the inside looks a bit more like a small indoor train station, with at least twenty fireplaces lining the walls. People fill the entire space, stepping in and out of fireplaces, the smell of Floo powder prevalent in the hot air.  
“What is this place?” Leila asks.  
“It’s England’s national Floo center. This is where people who are traveling by Portkey can come to get to their destination.”  
The family walks up to the nearest fireplace, which Luka notices has a small gold plaque above it that reads Diagon Alley. An attendant holds a bowl of Floo powder in front of the family, so Damon grabs a handful, steps into the eerie green flames, throws the powder down at his feet, and disappears. Leila goes next, with the help of her mother, and Luka can’t help but hold his breath as we watches his six year-old sister step into the flames. Then, Luka goes, scooping up the soft, sparkly black powder and walking carefully into the fireplace. The flames lick at him, but do not harm him. He releases the powder and, again, he is flying with no control, only this time he is flying through what feels like a brick tunnel. He keeps eyes and mouth closed tightly, and after scraping his arm on the brick, pulls his elbows in.  
He lands in another fireplace and steps out quickly. The room he enters is not lit except for the sun shining through a tall window across the room. There are a few strange-looking witches and wizards at the tables lining the darker edges of the room, but the center of the room is mostly full with brighter people having lunch. Luka walks over to his dad and sister and waits for his mom to appear in the fireplace, then they all meander to one of the empty tables.  
“All right, let’s have some breakfast-- or lunch. Not sure which it is, actually,” Damon laughs. Luka looks around apprehensively. He hasn’t been out of the United States for so long. It’s strange to be traveling again, to experience a new place, hear new accents, and see new faces. He’s intrigued by the prospect-- things have been pretty boring in his life until the incident with Caligo occurred-- and, strangely, the experience of newness is familiar to him, no doubt because he moved so much when he was young. But Luka can’t ignore the pain that stabs at him, even with the comfort and excitement; he already misses home.  
After lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, Luka and his family venture out into Diagon Alley. Immediately, Luka is amazed at the cobblestone steps and the teetering buildings that look so much older than anything back in California. He’s used to everything being new and pristine, but this place existed lifetimes before anything was built back home, and it shows. He’s surprised that the shops aren’t collapsing in on him in a pile of old wood and dust. But Diagon Alley has a certain vibrance to it. This doesn’t counter its age, but makes it more interesting. The old walls of each shop are coated in brightly colored paint, many with whimzical moving signs, like Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, a store that Luka has to stop himself from asking to enter. He wishes he had more time to look around, but Damon is insistent on getting the supplies as quickly as possible.  
“Me and Luka will go get his potion ingredients. You and Leila can go to Flourish and Blotts for his books.”  
Luka follows his dad through the alley, until they reach a shop called Slug and Jiggers Apothecary. They enter the dimly-lit shop, where a number of witches and wizards are browsing through the rows of animal parts and plant extracts. Many of the people are young like him, and Luka guesses that they’re fellow Hogwarts students, doing some last-minute school shopping. He feels unreasonably nervous at the sight of his own peers.  
“So, what house do you think you’ll be in?” Damon asks his son out of the blue, his eyes shining behind his glasses as carefully plucks a few porcupine quills from their tub.  
Luka shrugs.  
“I don’t know. I mean, if were at Ilvermorny, I’d probably be a Thunderbird.”  
Damon laughs at this. “Yes, you definitely would be.”  
“But I don’t know about Hogwarts. You were a Ravenclaw, right?”  
“I was.”  
“I could be a Ravenclaw, maybe.”  
“Yes, maybe,” Damon says thoughtfully.  
Luka, consulting his school supplies list, bottles up five grams of Bleeding Beetle legs as he thinks about his future house.  
“You know,” Damon says after a long pause, “it doesn’t really matter which house you’re in. I actually had more Slytherin friends than Ravenclaws.”  
“Really? Why?”  
Damon stops scooping powdered dragon scale and looks down.  
“Well, I felt very accepted among certain people in that house.”  
“Accepted? Aren’t Slytherins known for… well, the opposite of acceptance?”  
Damon smiles defeatedly. “I suppose they are. That’s why I had to separate myself from them later on.”  
“Oh,” Luka says quietly, feeling awkward for pressing his dad. He didn’t mean to shame him for the friends he made. But Damon, after a moment of silence, speaks confidently again.  
“And that’s why you should be careful about the friends you make. Don’t follow in my footsteps. If someone is causing trouble, I recommend that you distance yourself from them. I thought I could see something in those people that others didn’t, but when the whole world perceives somebody as bad or wrong, it’s best to listen to them. I made the mistake of eagerly accepting whoever floated into my life, because I was desperate. But Luka, you’re better than that. You deserve to be picky.”  
Luka’s mind immediately turns to Caligo. He knows his dad would consider the strange boy someone to stay away from, and that’s why Luka never told his parents about his secret friend. But his dad is right about not letting in the wrong type of friend. The only person Luka truly needs is Caligo, but since they are separated, he needs to spend every second searching for his friend, rather than trying to replace him with new ones. Caligo is the friend he would choose above all. That’s why all he can think about, even as he’s in a completely new country, on a new continent, going to a new school, is finding him. Instead of feeling scared about Hogwarts, remaking friends, stressing over classes, and anything else distracting about going to a new school, Luka decides to dedicate every second to finding the only person that matters to him in this world.  
Damon and Luka purchase all the ingredients they collected at Slug and Jiggers, and then the whole family continues to scurry around Diagon Alley for another two hours, slowly checking off the items on Luka’s supplies list. Finally, the last thing on the list is a wand.  
“I’m so excited,” Luka says aloud, grinning. Buying the rest of his school supplies was moderately enjoyable, since Diagon Alley and everything in it is so unique, but everyone knows that what every young wizard really wants is an instrument to channel their magic: a wand.  
Once they start heading towards the wand shop, Leila lights up and begs,“Can I go in with him? Can I get one? I mean, just try one? Please?”  
“No, Leila,” Anna says. “We haven’t seen your magic yet. Who knows what could happen if we put a wand in your hand?”  
“Fine,” she huffs.  
The family ventures to the end of the ally and up to an old-looking shop called Ollivander’s. Anna and Leila wait outside while Damon ushers Luka in. Immediately upon entering the shop, Luka feels an ancient magic wash over him. It only takes a few moments for someone to come out of the back. The woman is young, almost too young to belong in a place as archaic as this.  
“Hello,” the woman says. “Welcome to Ollivander’s.”  
Luka immediately decides that however young the woman appears, her graceful demeanor and wispy voice carries a very delicate energy that actually makes her fit right in.  
“Hello,” Damon replies. “Where is Mr. Ollivander?”  
The woman frowns. “If you’re talking about Garrick Ollivander, he passed a few years ago. I’m his niece, Guinevere.”  
“Mr. Ollivander is deceased?” Damon exclaims. “I can’t believe I haven’t been told. Well, I’m sorry to hear that. We’re here to get Luka a wand.”  
Damon pats Luka on the back and Guinevere Ollivander looks at him with luminous eyes that seem to peer straight through him. Luka looks away shyly.  
“Well, I’ll just get your measurements and we’ll find you a wand.”  
While Guinevere looks in the back, an enchanted tape measure winds around Luka’s body, measuring every inch of him. Then, the tape measure falls to the floor and Guinevere comes out with two boxes.  
“I think one of these will work. Try this. It’s vine wood, with a unicorn hair core, just like your father.”  
“How do you know about my wand?” Damon asks suspiciously. The woman looks at him.  
“Garrick Ollivander passed on a lot of knowledge, Mr. Jones.” She turns to Luka. “Now here, try it.”  
Luka takes the beautiful white wand and swishes it through the air like he’s seen adults do. A soft burst of energy waves across the room, and at first Luka thinks it’s worked, but the wave just hits a stack of books that goes toppling to the floor.  
“Hmm, that won’t do. Try this, then. This is a maple wood wand with a dragon heartstring core. It’s twelve inches, rather whippy.”  
Luka picks up the darker colored wand and immediately feels a rush go through his wand arm, into his chest. Luka smiles as he waves the wand and silver and gold sparks shoot out the end.  
“Yes, wonderful! Mr. Jones, this appears to be the wand for you.”  
Luka grips his wand with satisfaction, happy to finally feel this kind of magic inside him.  
“You may find that this particular wand will give off a faint glow when you are properly fueling it with ambition and adventure. It may even shine brightly, when you are most engaged and at peace. Maple wood is a very special material, Mr. Jones, use it wisely and with pride.”  
Luka doesn’t really know what to say to this-- he’s never heard of a glowing wand before, and he doesn’t exactly understand why he should be proud of a wand, but he nods seriously nonetheless, not wanting to disregard the sacredness of Guinevere’s statement.  
Finally, the family is completely done with their shopping, and Luka feels relief as they walk back towards the Leaky Cauldron, his stomach grumbling.  
“Wait, dear,” Anna says to Luka. He turns around.  
“What?”  
“Well, me and your dad feel bad about this whole moving away thing. We know how stressful it’s been, how quickly we had to rush, and… well, we want to give you a gift to try to make up for it. How about we go to Magical Menagerie and pick out a pet for you to bring to school?”  
“Really?” Luka asks excitedly.  
“Really,” Anna smiles.  
Magical Menagerie is an orchestra of screeching, meowing, croaking, and barking, but Luka enjoys being in there. He looks around, easily identifying most the animals after spending so much time at his mom’s apothecary. Anna geeks out as she looks at the creatures, asking the clerk about a three-eyed toad, a winged dog, and a bright pink snake. Luka browses happily, excited at the prospect of being able to pick his very own pet.  
“Mother, what about this one? She’s so beautiful, look at her eyes. They’re such a bright green.”  
Luka looks over and is stunned to see a luminous, white figure standing in front of a cat cage. He realizes the figure is a girl-- probably about his age-- who has long, curly, golden hair and is so extremely pale that she appears to be glowing. She coos at the pure-white kitten she’s holding, which happens to match her silky robes.  
“Darling, you don’t want a filthy animal getting hair all over the nice robes we just bought you.” The second voice comes from a woman standing behind the girl. The woman is much taller and is wearing wine-colored robes, but has the same golden hair and glowing skin. Her face is contorted into a grimace.  
“Mother, please, she’s not filthy. She’s beautiful,” says the girl.  
“She looks pretty, dear, but a refined girl like you shouldn’t have to take care of something like that.”  
“Please, she’s the only thing I’ve really wanted all day. She’ll be my only friend at school.”  
“Oh, please, what about that blond boy that’s always hanging around you?”  
“Well, besides him.”  
“Darling, I just can’t allow it.”  
The girls’ mother walks off apathetically and the girl sighs. Then, she spots Luka looking at her.  
“It’s unfair, isn’t it?” she says to him.  
Luka’s not exactly sure how to respond, but he just says, “Yeah.”  
“She is beautiful, though, isn’t she?” the girl asks, looking at the small white kitten.  
“Definitely,” he says, even though his opinion on the cat is rather neutral.  
“Are you looking for a pet?”  
“Yeah, my parents are letting me pick one out.”  
“Lucky you. My parents are rich and they haven’t let me get one thing I like all day.”  
“Why not?” Luka asks, feeling as though that is quite unfair.  
The girl rolls her eyes, which are a very dark brown and lined with thick black eyelashes.  
“They just don’t want me to be happy.”  
“I’m sure that’s not true.”  
“I think it is.”  
Luka, again, doesn’t really know how to respond, so he just pets the cat that is still in the girls’ arms.  
“I’m Dahlia, by the way,” the girl says, smiling with bright white teeth. “What’s your name?”  
“Luka.”  
“It’s nice to meet you, Luka. Are you going to Hogwarts?”  
“Yeah, it’s my first year.”  
“Hey, me too!” Dahlia exclaims. Then, she asks, spotting his accent, “But you’re American. Why are you going here?”  
“I just recently moved here.”  
“Really? When?”  
“Um, today, I guess.”  
“What, are you serious? Why?”  
“Well, let’s just say sometimes my parents can be unfair, too.”  
“That’s horrible,” Dahlia says. She looks at Luka for a long time, her smile so sympathetic and genuine that it almost makes him uncomfortable.  
“Well, if I can’t get her, do you want the kitten?” Dahlia finally asks him. Out of all the animals in the shop, Luka doesn’t think he would have picked that one, but something about Dahlia’s kindness and insistence, and the unfairness of her situation, makes Luka smile softly and nod his head.  
“Yeah, why not?”  
“Cool!” Dahlia says as she hands the warm, fluffy animal to Luka. “And maybe, if you want, I could visit her when we’re at school together.”  
“That’d be cool,” Luka smiles.  
“Great. So you’ll be on the train tomorrow?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Well maybe I’ll see you there.”  
“Yeah.”  
Dahlia walks away smiling, and Luka stands with the cat in his arms. The longer he stands there holding it, the less he understands how he actually ended up with it.  
“Hey, Luka. Have you found something you like yet?” Anna asks as she turns the corner, peering curiously at the kitten.  
“Um, yeah. This one is pretty cool.”  
“Are you sure?” Anna asks. “I wouldn’t have guessed that you’d pick that one.”  
“Yeah, me neither,” Luka grins.

***

The next day, Luka holds his suitcase, his cat carrier, and his new wand close to him, using them as a sort of armor as he walks through King’s Cross Station. People bustle all around him; he can tell some of them are wizards. The wizard-like people grow more concentrated as Luka and his family approach platform nine.  
“Wait a second, how do we get to platform nine and three quarters? There’s only nine and ten,” Luka explains.  
Damon smiles mischievously. “You have to walk through the wall.”  
Luka stares at the bricks in front of him, which look very real, and very hard.  
“What do you mean, walk through it? How?”  
“You just have to believe you won’t hit it, and you won’t. I promise.”  
Luka swallows and starts walking toward the wall. Just as his nose makes contact with the brick, he feels himself sliding through it, and then he’s on the other side. People are packed on platform nine and three-quarters, and all of them are witches and wizards. Children with whimzical toys and strange animals and adults with pointed hats and bright-colored robes surround him. Within a few seconds, Damon, Anna, and Leila are following Luka towards the train, which is billowing white clouds of steam. Luka turns around.  
“So this is it,” he says.  
“Yes it is,” Damon replies. “Do you feel ready?”  
“Kind of.”  
“You will be,” he says. “Hogwarts is an amazing place. That school was-- and still is-- my favorite place on earth. You’re lucky to be here.”  
Luka doesn’t feel so sure, but he nods anyways. His mom comes in for a hug.  
“Oh, Luka, I love you so much.”  
“Love you too, Mom.”  
“Be good,” she says with a twinkle in her hazel eyes that look just like his. “But have fun, too,” she smiles. Luka grins.  
“I will.”  
“Bye, Lu,” Leila says.  
“Bye, Leila. I’ll see you at Christmas,” Luka says, giving his litter sister a hug. She pushes him away, but he just laughs.  
“Okay, guys. I’ll see you later,” Luka finally says to his whole family. He walks towards the train, steps on, then looks back one last time to see the three of them waving at him. He turns around for the last time and steps onto the train.


	3. The Sorting Ceremony

Immediately, Luka’s brain switches from nostalgic mode to survival mode. He needs to find a compartment to sit in. He wanders down the train and looks into each compartment for kids who look like they’d let him sit with them. But all the kids have friends filling up the compartment, and the rest look snootily at Luka as he passes by. Finally, he finds an empty compartment, and sits down with relief just as the train’s final whistle blows. The train begins to move slowly. Luka takes his cat out of her carrier and pets her, staring into her sickly green eyes. Is this the only company he’s going to have the whole ride?  
Just as he thinks this, the compartment door slides open. Behind it is a girl. Her head is turned away from Luka, laughing at a joke he didn’t hear. Her long, golden curls fall down her shoulders, then whip to the side as she turns to look at him. She smiles sweetly with pearly white teeth, warmth beaming from her dark eyes.  
“Dahlia,” Luka says brightly, a strange heavy feeling building in his stomach.  
“Luka! I was hoping I’d find you,” Dahlia says with relief.  
“I’m glad you did,” Luka says, and then he sees the boy walk in behind her. He’s slightly taller than the girl. His slicked-back white hair is as pale as his skin. Luka can see blue veins run down his neck and disappear underneath all-black robes. He doesn’t make eye contact with Luka as he steps forward. He only surveys him.  
“This is Scorpius,” Dahlia says as he sits down. The boy still doesn’t say anything.  
“Don’t mind him, he’s just sort of shy.”  
“I’m not shy,” Scorpius says with an eye roll, sitting next to Dahlia.  
Before she can argue this, another boy opens the compartment door, but then closes it halfway again.  
“Albus, I’m not sitting there,” says a girl behind him.  
“It’s the only compartment left, Rose.”  
“Well my parents said that the people you sit with on your first ride to Hogwarts will be your best friends. Have fun befriending that weirdo.”  
The girl leaves and the boy opens the compartment door. His black hair is disheveled and his cheeks glow bright red.  
“Um, is it alright if I sit here?”  
“Of course,” Dahlia says. Albus takes the spot next to Luka.  
“I’m Dahlia Rose, by the way, and this is Scorpius Malfoy, and that’s Luka Jones. What’s your name?”  
“Albus. Albus Potter.”  
“Wait, really? You’re Harry Potter’s son?”  
Albus nods, his cheeks only glowing brighter.  
“Cool! Wha-”  
“Was she talking about me?”  
Everyone looks at Scorpius, who uttered the question.  
“That girl. Was she talking about me?” Scorpius asks Albus again. Albus clears his throat.   
“Um, yeah, Rose was talking about you. I’m sorry. She didn’t really mean it, she’s just--”  
“I get it. I’m a Malfoy. My dad famously hated yours. You have a right to hate me, too.”  
“I don’t hate you,” Albus says. “Neither does Rose.”  
“Sure didn’t seem that way,” Scorpius grunts.  
“Oh, shut up, Scorpius. Let the boy be,” Dahlia says. “Sorry about that, Albus. It’s not easy to be the son of Draco Malfoy.”  
“It’s okay.” Albus looks down at his feet.  
Dahlia looks uncomfortable in the awkward silence that follows, so she changes the subject by saying, “Luka is American! He just moved here yesterday. Pretty crazy, isn’t it? Anyways, Scorpius and I will help you transition. Right, Scorpius?”  
He just shrugs.  
“So what houses do you think you’ll be in?” Dahlia asks the group. Scorpius snorts.  
“If I’m not in Slytherin, then I think I’ll be the first in the entire Malfoy family.”  
“Which wouldn’t be a bad thing. Personally, I think you’re very much a Ravenclaw,” Dahlia says. Scorpius smiles.  
“And you could be a Hufflepuff.”  
Dahlia laughs. “But we also both come from Slytherin families. If we both get that house, then we could be together!”  
“You make a good point.”  
“What about you, Luka?” Dahlia asks.  
“I don’t know. My dad was a Ravenclaw, so I might be that, but I’m not sure.”  
“Well, maybe you can be in Slytherin with us! Albus, which house do you want?”  
Albus swallows. “Um… I don’t know. My brother James always says I’m gonna be in Slytherin, but I think he’s just trying to scare me. My whole family is in Gryffindor, so I guess I’m hoping for that one.”  
“Well, I hope you get what you want.”  
“Me too.”  
A voice rings out through the train, “Anything from the trolley?” Luka’s stomach grumbles at that, so he takes out a small sack of money. Dahlia does, too, and offers to pay for him.  
“No way, that’s yours,” Luka says. Dahlia rolls her eyes.  
“Please, Luka, my parents have more money than they know what to do with. My mom will just spend it on clothes or jewelry and my dad will use it all up at the Veela Club. This is the best possible use for this money, trust me.”  
Luka nods, and doesn’t comment on Dahlia’s concerning description of her parents.  
“Dahlia, no one likes a girl with daddy issues,” Scorpius mutters, smiling for the first time since Luka’s met him.  
“Right back at you, Malfoy.”  
“Touche,” Scorpius laughs.  
Dahlia buys a packet of Sugar Quills, a few boxes of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, and four chocolate frogs. She distributes the candy, and for a while, everyone eats in silence, which is broken only when Dahlia speaks again.  
“Wait, Albus, what year is your brother in?”  
“He’s in his second year. He acts like he’s older, though.”  
“Do you have other siblings?”  
“Yeah, a little sister, Lily. And, of course, Teddy.”  
“Who is Teddy?” she asks.  
“My godbrother.”  
“Oh wait, that’s Remus and Nymphadora Lupin’s kid, right?”  
Albus nods.  
“I remember hearing about them.”  
“Yeah,” Albus says awkwardly, obviously bothered by the fact that his godbrother’s parents are famous enough for Dahlia to know them.  
“Is it weird, being famous like this?”  
Albus goes bright red, and shrugs.  
“I’m not famous. But I guess my dad is.”  
“Your mom is, too,” Luka says. “She’s one of the best Quidditch players in the league.”  
“Yeah, that, too.”  
“Do you like Quidditch?” Luka asks.  
“Um, I guess. My brother and Lily play all the time. And Rose likes to play, too. I’m not very good at it, but I play with them sometimes.”  
“Oh, you’re bound to be a natural with parents like yours.”  
Albus doesn’t say anything.  
“Do you have siblings, Luka?” Dahlia asks.  
“Yeah, a sister. She’s eight.”  
“Is it nice, having a sister?”  
“Not really. She’s fun sometimes, but mostly annoying.”  
Albus nods, smiling a little.  
“That’s how I feel.”  
“I wish I had a sister,” Dahlia sighs. “The closest thing I have to a sibling is Scorpius, and he won’t even let me put bows in his hair.”  
Scorpius just rolls his eyes and half-smiles.  
“You must have a lot of friends in America, huh, Luka?” Dahlia asks.  
“Yeah,” he says truthfully, thinking mostly of Caligo. “Yeah, I had friends. I… wish I didn’t have to leave them.”  
“Well, we can be your friends!”  
Luka smiles gratefully. He and the others eat candy and make light conversation for the rest of the trip, and Luka feels glad to have found someone to share a compartment with.

***

Luka shivers when he steps off the train. He’s unnaccustomed to this kind of weather, especially with autumn arriving so early. He’s only experienced these temperatures in the middle of January back in California. He covers himself with his school robes and follows the big crowd of students heading towards a gate. But then he hears a booming voice yell, “Firs’ years! Follow me, firs’ years!” Luka looks up to see the largest man ever, with an enormous, bushy mane of grey hair.  
“Hagrid!”  
Albus grins when he sees the giant, to Luka’s confusion. The black-haired boy walks up to Hagrid and does his best to wrap his arms around the circumference of his belly.  
“How are ya, Albus?” Hagrid chuckles. “It’s good to finally have ye at Hogwarts.”  
Albus smiles. Then, Hagrid says, “Are we still having tea on Friday?”  
“Of course,” Albus says. Hagrid smiles and pats him on the back. Albus coughs.  
“Good luck at the Sortin’! No doubt you’ll be in Gryffindor, jus’ like the rest of yer family!”  
“Yeah,” Albus says more quietly. He, Dahlia, Scorpius, and Luka crawl into one of the boats lined up at the dock. The night sky is clear, unleashing the silver light of the moon and stars, letting their soft glow reflect across the surface of the rippling lake. Across the water is the castle, more grand than Luka ever imagined. Orange light beams out of the windows, contrasting against the pale white lights in the sky. Luka shivers again and wishes for the warmth of a fire.  
“The castle is really beautiful” Dahlia mutters, her teeth chattering. “But is quite cold.”  
Scorpius laughs.  
The castle comes closer and closer until, finally, they reach the dock and file out of their boats. Hagrid leads them towards the front doors, which are at least twice as tall and three times as wide as Hagrid himself. Luka sighs with relief once he steps inside the warm castle. The entrance hall is huge and the air smells musty, but also like stone, and a little like the welcoming smell of a fire. The first years are led through the hall and up a staircase, where Hagrid leaves and the children are greeted by a very old woman dressed in green robes. She has long white hair pulled up into a tight bun. The wrinkles between her eyebrows and around her lips are deep, but right now she’s not scowling-- her lips are curled into a soft smile, and her eyes are lit with a welcoming warmth.  
“Hello, first years. Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall, the Headmistress. Before you join the rest of the school at the feast, you will be sorted into your houses. Your house will be like your family for the next seven years. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Over the course of each year, you will receive house points for good behavior, and points will be taken away for bad behavior. The house with the most points at the end of the year will win the House Cup. Now, let’s go, the upperclassmen are waiting for us.”  
Professor McGonagall turns around and opens the grand doors. Four tables run the length of the room, torches burning on the walls. The ceiling seems to not exist. Instead, there’s a black, star-speckled sky. At the end of the hall is a fifth table, perpendicular to the others, where the professors sit. Students sit along the other four tables, empty plates and goblets in front of them. They all look up when the door opens. Luka and the other first years shuffle towards the end of the room, where Professor McGonagall stands. She picks up an old hat off the stool in front of her.  
“When I call your name, sit on the stool and I’ll place the hat on your head. It will sort you into your house.”  
With that, Professor McGonagall opens up a long scroll and calls out the first name.  
“Alliot, Quinn!”  
A lanky boy approaches the stool, obviously nervous. The hat is placed on his head and the boy jumps when the hat opens something like a mouth and says, “Hufflepuff!”  
“Allistair, Emma.”  
The next student is a short, shy-looking girl. When the hat calls out, “Gryffindor!” she grins with relief.  
“Armenius, Arabella.”  
This girl has long, black curls and is wearing a cocky grin. She prances up to the stool and doesn’t look very surprised when the hat calls, “Slytherin!”  
“Ashbrook, Calvin.”  
The boy has curly blonde hair and seems more curious than nervous. The hat calls out, “Ravenclaw!” and he goes to sit at the table.  
Luka waits, tension building with every student. Finally, he hears “Jenson, September,” get sorted into Gryffindor, and “Johnson, Felix” sent to Ravenclaw. Then, Professor McGonagall is calling, “Jones, Luka,” and Luka’s legs are carrying him up the steps and onto the stool. Professor McGonagall places the musty-smelling hat on his head. It falls around his eyebrows. The hat vibrates his skull as it mutters under its breath for a couple seconds. Then, the vibrations grow stronger as it yells, “Slytherin!”  
Luka feels relief flooding through him. He barely noticed that he was hoping for Slytherin. He wonders if it was because of Dahlia.  
He sits at the Slytherin table, now able to enjoy the rest of the Sorting. There are a couple more Slytherins directed at the table before Luka hears Scorpius being called. The hat sits on his blonde head for barely a second before it’s calling out “Slytherin!” Scorpius smirks and sits across from Luka at the table.  
“Told you,” he whispers.  
A few more students are called, and then the whole hall holds their breath as Professor McGonagall calls the famous name.  
“Potter, Albus.”  
Albus looks nervous- more nervous than any of the students have been. Luka can almost see him shaking as he approaches the stool. When McGonagall places the hat on his head, he almost winces. The hat mumbles unintelligibly. Albus seems to be talking back. Then, without warning, the hat calls the name that no one expected.  
“Slytherin!”  
Albus’ eyes go wide. All the color drains from his face as he steps unwillingly towards the table adorned in green, gazing wistfully at his friends and family in Gryffindor. He slides onto the bench next to Scorpius without a word. Scorpius and Luka look at each other, unsure of what to do. Luka turns back to the Sorting, half-listening to Scorpius whispering kind words of comfort to Albus.  
Professor McGonagall continues normally with the Sorting, but the rest of the hall is buzzing with excitement. Whispers stir up and down every table, necks craning in Albus’ direction as more first-year students are sent to their respective houses. Albus tilts his face downward, trying to avoid the stares.  
After her name is called, Dahlia joins the three boys, bouncing with delight but then smiling sadly at Albus when she sees him.  
“Hey, it’s okay. I know it wasn’t what you wanted, but you’ll do great in Slytherin. You’ll see.”  
Albus quietly says, “Thanks,” and goes back to staring at his plate. But his head snaps back up when he hears the name, “Weasley, Rose,” being called. Her bright red head bobs up the steps and is covered by the old brown hat. It calls out, “Gryffindor!” to nobody’s surprise. As Rose skips towards the red and gold table, she glances back at Albus, who looks as though he’d like to die right then and there.  
Finally, after the last student is sorted, Professor McGonagall rolls up her scroll and announces the beginning of the feast. As she says it, food suddenly appears across the entire length of each table and in a pile on every plate. Luka feels nothing but excitement and satisfaction at the prospect of digging into a seemingly endless feast, but then he looks up at Albus to see the boy sulking quietly in front of his plate. Luka wants to say something to him, but doesn’t know what. He’s never been good at cheering people up. Luckily, someone else steps in. It takes a moment for Luka to register that it’s Scorpius.  
“Hey, look. I know you wanted Gryffindor. I know your friends think Slytherin is bad. But just because they’re prejudiced assholes-”  
“Scorpius,” Dahlia warns. He ignores her.  
“Just because they’re prejudiced assholes doesn’t mean they’re right. You don’t have to believe everything they say. Slytherin doesn’t have to be bad. It’s what you make it.”  
Albus’ eyes narrow, and the sad shock in his eyes turns into a burning rage.  
“Prejudiced? My family, prejudiced? Look who’s talking, Malfoy.”  
“Hey, I didn’t mean-” Scorpius tries, his voice angry, but he’s interrupted by another voice behind him.   
“So it looks like I was right, huh?”  
The voice comes from a slightly older boy, tall enough to be in his third year at least. His black hair stands up the same way that Albus’ does and his build, while stockier and taller, is obviously similar. They are unmistakably brothers. The boy speaks softly, smiling jokily but with regretful eyes.  
“I didn’t realize I had such a knack for Sorting. Maybe I’ll go talk to that old hat, he’s well past the age to retire.”  
Albus doesn’t laugh, and nor does anyone around him. His brother frowns.  
“Look, I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t realize you were actually going to be in Slytherin. And I never meant to say that it would be bad if you were, I was just teasing you. You know that, right?”  
“Yeah, I know,” Albus says. His lips are pursed tightly and he speaks so quietly that it’s barely audible.  
“Well, um, congrats, anyways. I guess I… won’t see you in the common room. Um, I’ll just see you around.”  
The boy walks away awkwardly, frustrated at his obvious failure to comfort Albus. Luka looks at the younger brother and sees that his eyes have become red and shiny. He hides his face, and Luka thinks he’s going to get up from the table, when yet another Gryffindor boy approaches the table. This boy is smaller, and has lighter brown hair. He crosses his arms cooly and stares right at Albus when he says, very loudly, “Wow.”  
Dahlia turns around to look at him.  
“May we help you?” she asks. The boy doesn’t even look at her.  
“Oh, I just came to see it for myself. Son of Harry Potter sorted into Slytherin. How embarrassing. I mean, you’re whole family are Gryffindors, aren’t they? And you’re in the house of the man who spent his whole life trying to kill your father. What a shame. I wonder what your dad will think of that.”  
Scorpius’ face twists into an expression of disgust. Luka can’t help but notice how much uglier he looks when he makes the face.  
“Go away,” he says.  
“Hey, there’s no need to be rude. Although I suppose I’ve forgotten my own manners. I’m Ardeo Ephraim. First year. Just got sorted into Gryffindor. I would trade places with you, Potter, but unfortunately I don’t really want to sleep in the dungeons. Anyways, I’d better be off. Just wanted to see the disappointment myself.”  
Ardeo laughs at Albus, then his eyes linger over Luka, making direct eye contact that somehow feels like fire, and he strides back across the hall, leaving Luka, Albus, Dahlia, Scorpius, and anyone else who heard the conversation in complete shock.  
“What a dickhead,” Scorpius says. His large eyes are narrowed, staring at Ardeo from across the hall with a scary intensity. Dahlia nods in agreement.  
“I can’t believe someone would say something like that,” she says. “You know he’s just a stupid kid, Albus. Don’t take it personally.”  
“Yeah. Of course not,” Albus says. He looks around at the people staring at him, and over to the Gryffindor table where Ardeo, Rose, and his brother sit.  
“I need to go to the bathroom.”  
“Um, okay. Do you know where it is?” Dahlia asks.  
“No.”  
Albus is already standing up and walking towards the entrance of the hall. Half the heads in the hall turn to look at him, but he doesn’t look back. More whispering ensues. Dahlia frowns.  
“What should we do?”  
Scorpius shrugs, obviously still angry at Albus for being so rude to him. For the rest of the meal, Scorpius, Dahlia, and Luka eat silently, except for the small-talk they make with the new fifth-year prefect sitting near them. Right after Luka decides he’s too full to continue on, every plate in the hall is magically cleared, and Professor McGonagall stands up.  
“Now that we’ve had dinner, I have a few last announcements. I’d like to tell all the first years that the Forbidden Forest is indeed forbidden and not to be entered by any students. Also, Quidditch tryouts will be held the Saturday after next. Sign-ups will be in your common room. And, lastly, I and the rest of the staff wish you all a very happy year here at Hogwarts. That is all. Prefects, please lead your houses to your common rooms.”  
Luka stands up along with the other students and follows the crowd out of the hall, Scorpius and Dahlia not far behind him. The sea of students separates into their clothing colors, red and blue going in one direction, and green and yellow going in the other. Then, the Hufflepuff students depart, leaving Luka’s crowd exclusively green and silver. He tries to keep track of their path, but it’s hard. The staircases they descend move, so that once he’s climbed down them, they lead to a completely different place. The portraits refuse to stand still, so he can’t use them as landmarks. He eventually gives up, focusing on the general direction in which they move rather than every step.  
Finally, they reach a small stone room with nothing inside. One of the prefects faces the farthest wall and says, “Venimus quaestio.” Suddenly, the wall disintegrates into a stone passageway barely lit by small torches on the walls. The prefect leads the students through the passageway until they enter a large, green-tinted room. The room has a strange, eerie, untouched feeling about it. There are royal-looking statues by the entrance and intricate, serpentine carvings in the walls. The dusty portraits are incredibly old; they look as if their canvases have already started decomposing. The ceiling is smooth and stony, and the walls are intricately carved with snake-like shapes. The architecture makes Luka feel as though he’s in a castle-- then he remembers that he is. There are greenish lamps hanging from the ceiling, glowing gloomily. The windows on the far side of the room aren’t really windows at all-- they only allow more greenish light to meander into the room. The only non-green light comes from the fireplace, where there is collection of expensive black leather sofas and a central table. Luka likes the furniture and the cozy feel of the room. He decides this won’t be a bad place to hang out, but he wishes there were more light, and that the ancient portraits on the wall wouldn’t look down at him so snootily.  
“Your things have already been brought to your dormitories,” a prefect announces to the students. “Girls, your dormitory is the on the right, and boys are on the left. Don’t forget to check the notice board for your schedules in the morning.”  
Luka wanders towards the left side of the room where there’s a short hallway with a door at the end. He’s about to head inside when he hears Dahlia’s voice. He turns around to see that Scorpius is right behind him.  
“So,” Dahlia says, her brown eyes shining at them. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”  
Scorpius nods, and Luka smiles at her. She gives a friendly smile back and says, “Goodnight.”  
Luka, Scorpius, and a handful of others walk down the short hallway and through the door. They step into a square room with the same greenish tint as the common room. There are four-poster beds lined up on each wall, all with velvet green curtains that hang to the floor. At the end of each bed is a suitcase, and there are a few owls and other pets sitting next to them. It isn’t hard for Luka to find his cat carrier; there are persistent mowls coming from the bed closest to the door. Luka opens the carrier and the white smear bounds out, leaps across the room and then returns back to him, rubbing her head on his arm and purring. Scorpius and a few other first-years that Luka recognizes but whose names he can’t remember walk into the room. Scorpius takes the bed next to Luka.  
“Hey,” says a dark-haired boy across from them. He sits with his legs hanging over the foot of his bed. “I’m Nathan.”  
“I’m Luka.”  
“Scorpius.”  
Another boy in the corner of the room, with extremely large, crystal-like eyes, says, “I’m Xerio.”  
“Jordan,” says another boy in the other corner.  
“Liam,” says the last one. Everyone looks at each other, feeling slightly awkward. Just then, Albus walks slowly into the dormitory, and everyone looks up at him.  
“Hey, are you okay?” Luka asks reflexively when he sees the redness around Albus’ puffy eyes.  
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just want to go to bed.”  
Albus lays in the bed next to Scorpius, who is still obviously mad, and everyone is mostly silent. Scorpius takes out a rather thick book, props it on his chest, and reads. Albus doesn’t move, but Luka hears him sniffling every once in a while. The other boys chat quietly, unpacking their pajamas and writing letters for their families. For lack of anything better to do, Luka takes out the map with the seven X’s, careful not to let anyone else in the dormitory see it. He takes off his shoes, crawls under the covers of his bed, which are incredibly soft, and pets his cat as he studies the map again, ignoring the quiet conversations between the rest of the boys. Once he finally admits that there are no more discoveries to be made using the map right now, Luka puts it away and attempts to go to sleep. He closes his eyes and, like a dream, he sees the Leaky Cauldron in the early morning, the cobblestone steps of Diagon Alley. He feels the magic of his wand flowing through his hand, and the softness of his mother’s hug when he told her goodbye. He feels the fear in his chest of having to find a place to sit on the train, and the relief that Dahlia and Scorpius gave him when they sat in his compartment. He sees Dahlia’s face, her dark brown eyes staring at him, white teeth flashing in her kind smile. He sees her glow like the moon, feels his own heart shiver. And then, suddenly, he sees Caligo’s sunken face, his greasy black hair hanging in front of his eyes. He feels his back hit the cold earth, the warmth of Caligo on top of him, and the pain of his knife ripping into his arm.


	4. First Day

Luka wakes up to the sound of rustling and hushed voices. He opens his eyes to see the dormitory flushed in even greener, but much brighter light than last night. Most of the boys in the dormitory are awake, but a few still lay in their beds, covering their heads with their pillows as the others try to kick them off their mattresses. Scorpius and Albus are sleepy-eyed and slowly getting dressed, not talking to each other. Luka starts getting dressed, too. He packs his school bag with all the books and supplies he needs, making sure his wand is in his robe pocket. He follows the other boys out of the dormitory and into the common room, where most of the students are already bustling about. It doesn’t take long for Luka to spot Dahlia, her golden hair shining in the morning light. She’s talking to a girl with long, curly black hair. When she sees the three boys, she says goodbye to the girl and walks over.  
“Hey guys,” she says warmly. “Let’s go check our schedule.”  
The four of them go to the board and see that they have Transfiguration first.  
“Are you nervous?” Scorpius asks Dahlia quietly as they follow the other first years out of the common room.  
“About class?”  
“Yeah.”  
Dahlia looks at him.  
“Yeah. I am. I think we all are.”  
“Okay good,” Scorpius breathes. Albus looks relieved, too, even though he doesn’t say anything.  
The first years climb the steps out of the dungeon, landing in the Entrance Hall, then wind through even more halls. As they walk, Luka notices that people are staring at him. Then, after determining that can’t be right, he realizes that it’s not him they’re staring at; it’s Albus.The students whisper and point and some of them laugh. Luka wonders how they could be so blatantly rude. Albus acts like he doesn’t notice, but the lack of blood in his face and the way his eyes fall to his feet is rather conspicuous.  
They turn another corner and finally stumble towards the Transfiguration room. “Thank Merlin,” Dahlia says. “I thought we were going to get lost.”  
The Transfiguration classroom is large and lively. Five rows of desks are precisely placed in the center of the room, with plenty of space between them, but the edges of the room are busy and crowded. There are cages hanging from the ceiling with exotic birds inside. The far wall is lined with shelves covered with all sorts of strange objects. There are cabinets and drawers everywhere, and small portraits quietly conversing. Standing in front of all the desks is a short, dark-skinned woman with long, black hair hanging behind her head in a neat braid. She is tapping a candlestick lightly with her wand, and each time the wood meets the brass, the candlestick changes color.  
When the room is full, the professor at the front of the room checks the clock and says with a soft, bright voice, “Hello, students. I’m Professor Patil, Head of Ravenclaw House. How’re you all doing this morning?”  
The class, even though many students seem tired, greet their professor eagerly. Everyone is itching to do some magic.  
“Good! Welcome to your Transfiguration class. Transfiguration is the magical discipline of transforming one thing into another. It’s a very powerful form of magic, one that you should all be excited to learn. But it’s also the trickiest, so I expect you all to work very hard in order to develop your skills. Now, since I know all of you are dying to do some magic, we’ll begin using a simple spell to turn matchsticks into needles. I don’t expect anyone to get this right today. Right now, the goal is to learn the importance of a proper incantation and a precise wand movement. You all contain magic within you, and just about all of you have seen it accidentally at work at some point. But focusing magic through the instrument of a wand is more difficult than you might imagine. Now the incantation here is Acufors. And the wand movement for this spell is quite simple. Begin with your wand pointed slightly above the matchstick on your desk, then bring it down to point at the matchstick. Do this in combination with the incantation, and you should begin to get results. I will walk around and help each of you. You may begin.”  
Luka pulls out his wand, points it at the match, and says the incantation. He feels the magic running through his arm like when he first held his wand, but nothing happens. He tries again and gets the same result. He looks around to see that no one else is having any luck, either. As he looks, his eyes catch on Dahlia, her pale face pursed in a look of utmost concentration. When Luka holds his wand, he can feel the subtle magic flowing into his hand. But looking at Dahlia, it’s as if the magic lies in the focus of her deep-brown eyes, in the space that narrows between her eyebrows, in the bite she makes in her lip. He tears his eyes away and attempts the spell again.  
As the students continue their work, trying over and over again, Professor Patil gives them tips on how to properly hold their wand, how to correctly pronounce the spell, how to concentrate on their matchstick. By the time she announces that they only have five minutes left in class, no one has transfigured anything, but they’ve definitely learned a lot about the mechanics of magic. And then, Scorpius pipes up.  
“Professor, am I doing this right?”  
Scorpius calls Professor Patil to his desk, and she smiles when she sees his match.  
“You are, Mr. Malfoy. It’s not a full transfiguration, but with more practice, you’ll get there. I must say, I’m impressed. Five points to Slytherin.”  
Scorpius beams, a little uncomfortable at the attention but obviously proud of himself. Luka turns back to his match, but then notices the way Albus is glancing at Scorpius, a scowl on his face. He purses his lips and swings his wand down with more force than ever.  
There’s a cry, but it’s not Albus’. The girl that Dahlia was talking to this morning is sitting in front of Albus. It takes Luka a moment to notice that the entire middle portion of her long black hair is cut in a clean, straight line, leaving a rectangle of empty space on her back. Albus’ eyes go wide and horrified, while the girl confusedly touches the back of her head and screams.  
“What? You cut my hair!”  
“No, I didn’t mean to, I think my wand--”  
“You think this is funny?” the girl demands. Albus just looks stunned.  
Professor Patil comes over to the table. At first, she looks concerned, peering at the place where Albus cut the girl’s hair to make sure nothing worse happened. Once she realizes it really was just the hair, the professor says, “Okay, Ms….”  
“Arabella Armenius,” the girl says, annoyed.  
“Ms. Armenius, it looks like it was an accident. Besides, it’s just the hair.”  
“Just the hair?! It’s my hair! The Potter boy cut it! Go figure.”  
Professor Patil looks bothered by that last statement, but she says, “Not to worry. Class is almost over, you can go to Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing. She has a rather effective hair-growing spell.”  
“Can’t you do something about it?” the girl says.  
“I could, but it’s not my place to cast spells on students. You may go.”  
The girl beelines for the door, covering the gap in her hair with continued horror. Luka looks over to see Albus leaning low in his chair and probably trying to think of a spell that could turn him invisible. Unfortunately, Professor Patil looks at him anyways.  
“It was an accident,” he says in a small voice.  
“Yes, I understand, Mr. Potter. Accidents happen. But I do ask that you try to keep your wand aimed away from… people.”  
“Yes, ma’am.”  
Professor Patil walks away and mutters under her breath, “You’d think he’d be a little more adept, having a father like his.”  
It’s loud enough for Albus to hear it.

***

After Transfiguration, the first-year Slytherins go to History of Magic, which is way more boring than Luka ever imagined it to be. The class itself is taught by a ghost with a droning voice that could make anything sound insipid. Luka is thankful when the class finally ends and he puts away the few lines of notes he was able to get down between periods of daydreaming. He’s also thankful to hear everyone’s complaints mirroring his own thoughts as they leave the classroom.  
After History of Magic, they head towards the dungeons. They flood down the stony steps that lead to the Slytherin common room, and walk through the same cold hallway, but then make a right turn away from the common room and go down another hallway. Before they know it, they’ve reached the Potions classroom. It’s a well-sized, stony room lit by torches lining the walls and the pre-noon sun as it tries to peak in the through a few glass panes adjacent to the ceiling. There are six tall desks positioned across the room with bottles, flasks, beakers, large cauldrons, and ingredients gathered around the center. The far end of the room is carved out into a circular corner, where ingredients, bottles, and books are sitting on shelves around a central table. This is where Luka sees an exceedingly old, particularly stout man standing. The man smiles when they enter, stretching his bushy white mustache across his face.  
“Welcome, students! Welcome to Potions! Come in, come in. Make yourselves comfortable; but don’t touch anything quite yet. Let’s wait for our dear Gryffindor class to arrive.”  
Luka files in and takes one of the tables. Dahlia and Scorpius follow him, but Albus tries to take a different table. Dahlia waves him over anyways, and he reluctantly stands next to Luka, trying to avoid Scorpius’ eyes. It only takes a few more seconds for the Gryffindor class to walk through the door, bustling quietly. Luka immediately spots Ardeo, who looks back at him with a cocky smile. Luka turns to Albus, rolling his eyes, but sees that Albus’ attention is on the fiery red-headed girl who Luka recognizes as his cousin Rose.  
“Alright, let’s get started. I am Professor Slughorn, the Potions master. Now, you may have heard a few myths about Potions before coming to this class. Some people believe that you don’t end up using it in the real world. Well, I can say for a fact I use it everyday-- granted, I am a potions teacher. Others challenge the idea that Potions is even magic at all! Of course, this is just a myth, circulated by those not particularly predisposed to this branch of magic. But I can assure you, Potions is magic. In fact, there is something far more magical about it than just its classification, something you will only be able to discover for yourselves. But now! It’s time for us to begin. I decided to start off class with something a little more hands-on than usual. So today, we will learn about different types of cauldrons, beakers, and flasks, and how to properly use them, and then we’ll put that knowledge to the test while we attempt to make Ceramedor, a potion for healing lacerations. I don’t expect any of you to make a perfect potion today. In fact, I’m ready for the worst. But hopefully a practice potion will help you all familiarize yourselves with the process. Now, let’s get started!”  
For the next few minutes, Professor Slughorn goes over everything on the table, stating its name and function. Usually, Luka would be bored, but the old man is so lively and amusing that Luka pays attention the whole time. When he finally finishes the lecture, he writes the recipe on the board and directs everybody to get started.  
Luka starts immediately, following the directions step-by-step. He pours the first ingredient in his cauldron, then lights it. He adds a second ingredient and brings the potion to a boil. Then, he simmers it while he adds the third ingredient. He stirs for five minutes, first slowly, then quickly, then counterclockwise. As he works, he realizes that he’s already discovered the other magic Professor Slughorn was talking about. His potion simmers, the heat warming his hands and face, and he robotically stirs as if it were his second nature. He doesn’t even look up at Scorpius, Dahlia, or Albus until Dahlia says, “Wow, Luka. Good job. How did you do that?”  
Luka’s face burns, so he stands back from his potion. It still burns.  
“Um, I don’t know. I just followed the instructions.”  
Luka looks over at Dahlia’s potion, which looks a bit dull and goopy. Then he sees Scorpius’, which is arguably just as beautiful as Luka’s. When he looks over to Albus, the boy isn’t even looking at his potion, which has started to become viscous and off-color. Instead, his head is turned to the table across the room where Rose sits, chatting with her tablemates and grimacing down at her cauldron. Luka sees Rose look up. Albus whips his head away from her and pretends to be busy with his potion. Rose’s eyes linger somberly on Albus, her lips tilted in a frown. Luka almost wonders if she’s going to walk over to them, but she never does.  
“What were you guys talking about?” asks Albus distractedly.  
Dahlia opens her mouth to reply, but just then, Professor Slughorn glides towards their table and lands between Albus and Luka, the top of his head only a few inches higher than theirs. He’s close enough for Luka to see the deep lines in his face and smell sugar on his breath. The professor leans towards Albus, glancing at his cauldron.  
“Hello, Mr. Potter. I see your potion-making skills do not disappoint.”  
“Oh. Thanks. It’s not great, Luka’s is--”  
“Oh, no, dear boy, it’s wonderful for your first day. You know, your father was an extraordinary Potion maker. I wonder if you have his gift.”  
“I really don’t know, but--”  
“Ah, I’m sure of it. Any boy with your genes is destined for greatness! Speaking of, I am so pleased to have you in my house. I was sure that Professor Longbottom was going to snatch you up into Gryffindor, but what a twist of fate! Anywho, it’s good to meet you, and keep going! You’re doing great!”  
Albus’ cheeks flush red and he looks apologetically at Luka as if to say, You deserved that more than I did. Luka notices Ardeo staring at Albus, eyebrows narrowed with jealousy at the professor’s praise. Luka smirks.  
And then Professor Slughorn stops and turns around to look at Luka.  
“For the love of Merlin, my dear boy, is that your potion?”  
Luka nods.  
“Incredible! Impeccable! It’s rare that I see a first year brew such an exquisite potion. What is your name, son?”  
“I’m Luka Jones.”  
“Ahh, I’ll have to remember that name. What natural talent you have. Five points to Slytherin!”  
Professor Slughorn moves away from their table, but he keeps looking over, unable to contain his joyous grin. Scorpius stares at him and whispers, “What a lunatic.”  
Dahlia scoffs and whacks his arm.  
“You’re just jealous that he didn’t notice your potion.”  
“Well, if he had, maybe we would’ve gotten more points,” Scorpius grumbles.  
“Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll come to adore you.” Dahlia laughs.  
Scorpius shakes his head, his eyes suddenly turning sad. “Not if I’m a Malfoy, he won’t. I’ve heard that Slughorn only cares about names, connections. If he wants popularity, he’ll stay away from Draco Malfoy’s kid.”  
***  
Lunch comes after a class period full of praise from Professor Slughorn and deadly, jealous looks from Ardeo. The four students file into the dining room and sit at the Slytherin table. They all pile their plates with sandwiches and salad and Dahlia speaks happily about the morning. While she and the others talk, Luka opens his bag under the table and pulls out the bottle of his own potion that Slughorn insisted he take. He rubs some of the viscous liquid onto the open cut on his arm, which is healing more every day, but very slowly. The potion cools and numbs his arm, and he feels the healing process hasten immediately.  
“What are you doing?” Dahlia asks, looking under the table at Luka’s arm. He tries to hide it, but Dahlia grabs his arm firmly. He swallows.  
“What’s that?” she insists.  
“Oh, nothing. Just a cut.”  
“That’s horrible, Luka, how’d you get it?”  
“I tripped. In the forest,” Luka says, just like he told his parents.  
“Oh. Well, it’d better heal soon, that looks awful. Maybe you can get the nurse Madam Pomfrey to help.”  
“Yeah, sure.”  
Lunch passes quickly and before Luka knows it, he and the other first-year Slytherins are filing into the bright, airy Defense Against the Dark Arts Room. A smiley, short black man stands at the front of the classroom, dressed in bright orange robes, waving at the incoming students.  
“Welcome,” he says, “to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Take a seat, children, take a seat.”  
The students file in, Luka sitting at the front of the classroom (where there is only one seat available). The other three sit in the row behind him.  
“I am Professor Vanderway, Head of Hufflepuff house. If you all would, please take out your books and turn to page seven. We’re going to be starting right away with some basic defensive spells, and first we must learn the theory.”  
Professor Vanderway lectures excitedly for the rest of class, referencing the book often but also pulling out his own anecdotes and experiences to dramatize his ideas. He mentions offhand that he was an Auror for a few years before coming a professor here, and when he says this, his dark brown eyes linger on Luka.  
“Well, that’s all for today. I know you all want to do some practical work, so tomorrow we’ll finish chapter one and then we can start practicing wand movement. Until then.”  
The Slytherins head out of the room, including Albus, Dahlia, and Scorpius, but they stop at the doorway when Professor Vanderway says to Luka, “Mr. Jones.” Luka stops and stands in front of the professor’s desk.  
“Professor?” he asks, wondering how he knew his name.  
“Yes, Mr. Jones, I wanted to introduce myself personally. You see, I am a friend of your father’s. He told me you’d be in my class”  
“Oh. I didn’t know.”  
“That’s understandable. Our friendship is somewhat old. We worked in the Auror Department together, back in the day. I know he doesn’t share much about that time with you, I wouldn’t expect you to know my name. That’s why I wanted to say hello. If there’s anything you need, in or out of class, please do not hesitate to ask. I am always willing to help the son of my good friend Damon.”  
“Thank you, Professor.”  
“Anytime. You may go, I wouldn’t want to make you late.”  
Luka nods and the man and leaves with Albus, Dahlia, and Scorpius.  
“What was that about?” Albus asks.  
“He’s a friend of my dad’s. They were Aurors together.”  
“You’re dad’s an Auror?” Albus asks.  
“Not anymore,” Luka tells him. “Only when he lived here. Back in California, he was just some sort of manager at MACUSA. I guess Professor Vanderway’s known him for a long time.”  
The four students make their way to the last class of the day, Charms. Luka likes the class from the minute it starts. The classroom is comfortable and bright, just like the teacher. Professor Tearbolt is kind and soft-spoken, but has clear instructions. She welcomes all the students to their first lesson and introduces the first charm they’re going to learn: the Levitation Charm. She reads a passage from their textbook out loud and elaborates on the technique required to cast the spell. Then, she directs everybody to try it themselves with a feather on their desk.  
Luka clears his throat, grips his wand firmly, and waves his wand as directed while saying, “Wingardium Leviosa.” He thinks he sees the feather move, but it doesn’t levitate. He tries again, and the same thing happens.  
“Try waving your wand more swiftly,” Scorpius says. Luka looks over at him to see him pointing his wand at his feather, which is a foot above the desk in front of him. Luka gasps.  
“Whoa, how did you do that?”  
“I don’t know, I just did.”  
Luka, fueled by his determination to do what Scorpius did, waves his wand again and utters the incantation. He smiles when he sees the feather slowly rise a few inches off his desk.  
“Good job, boys, keep going!” Professor Tearbolt says to them. Luka is disappointed that the Gryffindor class isn’t with them; Ardeo would be even more jealous at their talent. But then, he hears someone whispering behind him.  
“Why is Malfoy so good at magic?”  
The voice belongs to Nathan, another first year Slytherin.  
“I don’t know, maybe his dad bought him a special wand or something. I hear their family is super rich.”  
“Really? Even though the dad doesn’t have a job?”  
“It’s all family money. They live off it.”  
Nathan thinks.  
“Huh. I wonder if he’s just trying to impress everyone to get over the reputation.”  
“Probably.”  
The conversation ends there, Luka and Scorpius having heard every word of it.

***

The day eventually ends with a deep sense of relief and exhaustion from the students. Albus, Scorpius, Dahlia, and Luka all go down to the Slytherin common room together. Luka finds its dim, green light and black sofas much homier than before, probably due to feeling so drained. He collapses on one of the last available chairs, swinging his legs over the side and sighing deeply. Scorpius sits across from him in another chair, while Dahlia and Albus settle at one of the tables. All four of them are silent for a while, still tired and a bit overwhelmed from their first day of classes. After a minute or so of sitting by the quietly crackling fire, Dahlia breaks the silence.  
“We should probably write to our families.”  
Albus, who is curled up in his own chair staring bleakly into the fire, groans.  
“No way, I can’t do that.”  
“Oh, come on Albus, you have to,” Dahlia says.  
“How am I going to tell them?”  
Albus’ voice breaks, as though he’s about to cry. Dahlia walks over and rubs his back.  
“I can help you. We’ll write it together.”  
Albus looks at her, and the reflection of the fire in his eyes is blurred by a layer of anxious tears.  
“I appreciate your help, Dahlia, but I really can’t do it tonight. I need to time to think. To let it… sink in.”  
“Okay. Just let me know if you need anything.”  
She turns to Scorpius.  
“You, however, should write to your mother.”  
“As should you,” he smirks.  
“I think I’m the only person here who could get away with not writing home. My dad is probably away on a fake business trip, and I wouldn’t want to interrupt my mother’s drunken rejoicing.”  
“Maybe a letter from her daughter will sober her up,” Scorpius replies, not all worried or surprised by Dahlia’s grim prediction of what her parents’ behavior.  
“Well, alright. I have some parchment, let’s write.”  
Luka’s letter isn’t too long. He talks about his first day of classes, tells them that he was Sorted into Slytherin (which, luckily, he knows they won’t be bothered by). He asks them how they’re doing in their new house, and if they like their new jobs. He doesn’t tell them about Professor Horthwrite, though. Something about the man creeped him out, and he needs to evaluate him before telling his parents.  
After writing their letters and deciding to send them in the morning, the group starts on the homework they were assigned that day. It’s not much, but they’ve never done homework before, and none of them like it much. Luka notices that Scorpius, instead of reading out of the book assigned in History of Magic, is reading his own book. He catches Dahlia, instead of practicing transfiguration, in conversation with one of the other first-year girls. And Albus barely even pretends to be working. Instead, he continues to stare at the fire. The sight of him is pitiful.  
And Luka, instead of finishing the Defense Against the Dark Arts chapter, pulls out the map he found in Caligo’s house, studying it. For some reason, Luka thought that Hogwarts, mysterious, knowledge-packed, and secret-riddled Hogwarts, would just randomly present him with information that could lead him to Caligo. But he now understands how naive that was. He has to work to understand what this map means. All he knows right now is that he and Caligo lived together at one of the X’s on the map, and now he lives at another. For some reason, he feels it’s likely that Caligo is here as well, but not at Hogwarts- he wasn’t in the Sorting. Although, Caligo never intended to go to Ilvermorny, either. He was going to be homeschooled. So it’s possible that Caligo is somewhere else in the country, waiting for Luka to find him, waiting to explain why he did what he did in the forest.  
“What’s that?”  
Luka looks up, alarmed. He realizes that he’s been lost in thought for a while when he sees the mostly-empty common room. Dahlia and Albus are gone. Scorpius sits across from him; he’s the one who asked the question.  
“Um, nothing,” Luka replies, quickly folding up the map.  
“It’s not nothing, you’ve been staring at it for half an hour.”  
“It’s just a bit of parchment that I found.”  
“It looked like a map.”  
“It’s not a map.” Luka doesn’t know why he’s denying that.  
“What’s so interesting about it?”  
“Merlin, nothing is interesting about it, would you just mind your own business?”  
Scorpius looks a little hurt, but turns back to his book, the one he’s reading for pleasure, and ignores Luka when he gets up to go to his dormitory.


	5. The Black Lake

The first day of classes went pretty well, Luka thinks, save for a few moments. There weren’t any truly awful professors. He didn’t fall asleep or give his professors any wrong answers. He did well in Charms, and even better in Potions, and was right where he was supposed be in every other class. While the homework was a little daunting, he was able to get it all done in the dormitory after he left Scorpius in the common room. But after the next morning, he can tell the rest of the week won’t be as smooth.  
The disaster starts when Albus, Dahlia, Scorpius, and Luka head to the Owlery before class to deliver their letters. The Owlery is a dirty, smelly, loud place with birds flying in every direction overhead. Scorpius approaches his dark grey owl, Shakespeare, and ties his letter to his foot. Albus finds his pretty tan owl, Eolus, and lets Dahlia use him, since he still doesn’t have a letter to send. This puts Albus in a bad mood immediately, which only adds the already tense energy not only between Albus and Scorpius, but between Scorpius and Luka. And Dahlia seems put down by everyone else’s bad mood. So, as they make their way to the first class of the day, the last thing any of them need is an encounter with Peeves.  
“It looks like we’ll have just enough time to get to Transfiguration,” Dahlia says as they make their way down the hallway. But as they’re walking down the deserted corridor to get to class, they hear a loud crash.  
“What was that?” Albus asks quietly.  
“I don’t know,” Dahlia replies. “A student?”  
And then there is a loud screaming and something swooping through the air in front of them. The creature comes to a stop, floating in front of the four students. Luka can see that it’s a man, or at least what seems to be a man. He’s wearing a sneer and a full jester’s outfit. He opens his mouth and a voice like the sound of a screeching cat bellows, “Well, if it isn’t Albus Potty! What an honor!”  
Dahlia tries to pull the other three in the opposite direction, but the strange man screams, “Oh, but I didn’t mean to be rude! Please, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Peeves the Poltergeist.”  
Peeves leans in and glares at the four of them.  
“And here we have what seems to be a snobby little girl, the American boy, and-- oh, Malfoy! You look oh so much like your father, don't you? And then, of course, Albus. Oh, but where’s your long white beard, Albus? Wait, you’re not Albus Dumbledore. Of course you’re not-- he wasn’t a Slytherin! Hee hee hee!”  
Peeves flies around the room, giggling and knocking over everything in his path. Albus, Dahlia, Scorpius, and Luka are trying to get away when a crowd of students walks up. At the front of the crowd is a Slytherin prefect. He looks up at Peeves sternly and says, “Peeves, leave these students alone.”  
“Never!”  
“I’ll go get the Bloody Baron. I just saw him passing around the corner.”  
Peeves looks up, and something like fear shows on his face.  
“Oh, alright. I’ll go.”  
And with that, the horrible poltergeist zooms away.  
“What was that thing?” Luka asks.  
“Peeves. He’s the Hogwarts poltergeist. He’s the biggest troublemaker in the whole school.”  
Just then, a group of Gryffindors walks up. Luka can almost feel Albus tensing beside him.  
“What’s this about the biggest troublemaker in the whole school?” the boy asks. It’s Albus’ brother James.  
“Peeves,” the prefect responds.  
“What? I thought you were talking about us! Are we not the biggest troublemakers yet? Oh well, I guess we have five more years to prove our legacy. Right, Fred and Ivy?”  
James turns to look at look at a smirking, dark skinned boy with vibrant red hair, and a girl with very long, messy black hair who is also smiling.  
“Hey, little bro. I heard that you and your friends got on Slughorn’s good side. How’d you do that? I mean, he liked me at first, but once he realized how I felt about Slytherins-- I mean, once he realized how bad I was at Potions, he started ignoring me. Uh, good job.”  
It’s obvious that James didn’t mean to say what he said about Slytherins. James is trying so hard to be nice but everything he says comes out mockingly.  
“Anyways, see you later.”  
James and his friends walk the other way, leaving Albus embarrassed and even more angry than before. When he and his three friends finally make it to Transfiguration, Professor Patil takes away five points each for being late. Luka thinks this is completely unfair, but doesn’t say anything.  
In Potions, Professor Slughorn teaches them about ingredients. When he asks someone to identify what dragon’s blood is used for, Albus raises his hand, challenging Luka’s belief that Albus is incredibly shy. When he gives his answer, Professor Slughorn nods and praises him. But then Ardeo says under his breath (not so quietly), “Oh, wow, famous Potter boy is on Slughorn’s good side. How surprising.”  
Luka knows he only said this because his jealousy has ripened since yesterday, but Scorpius says back just as audibly, “Hey, dickwad, shut up.”  
Professor Slughorn somehow didn’t seem to hear Ardeo’s comment, but turns to look at Scorpius the minute his comeback leaves his mouth.  
“Mr. Malfoy! What kind of language is that?”  
“Sorry, Professor.” Scorpius looks more angry than apologetic, his eyes constantly flicking over to Ardeo, who seems to be satisfied by Scorpius’ scolding. Albus, however, looks at Scorpius with a baffled smile. Scorpius looks back at him with the same hateful eyes he gave Ardeo.

***

At lunch, Albus sits a few seats away from Dahlia, Luka, and Scorpius. As he eats, three people come up to him.  
“Hey, Al,” says the middle one, a very pretty girl who looks to be at least fifteen. One blonde streak is braided in with her striking red hair.  
“Hey,” Albus says, surprised. “What are you all doing here?”  
“Here to see you, of course,” says the oldest girl, who is very tall and also has red hair. She is even more beautiful than the girl who is obviously her sister.  
“You and Rose haven’t been talking,” says the last sibling, a small boy with strawberry blonde hair.  
“Um, yeah. I guess she’s-- I guess she’s mad at me.”  
“You know how she is,” the middle girl says. “She’ll come around.”  
Albus doesn’t respond to this, only looks up at the three siblings, his eyes pleading.  
“I bet you feel the same, don’t you? Ashamed of me?”  
“Why would we be ashamed? You’re in Slytherin, so what?” the boy says. “I’m in Ravenclaw. I’m one of the first non-Gryffindors of this generation.”  
“Teddy’s a Hufflepuff, and he turned out great,” says the oldest girl.  
Albus frowns.  
“But none of them are in Slytherin. No one has a problem with Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs. Slytherins suck! They’re evil, prejudiced, ruthless, conniving villains, and everyone knows it!”  
Albus yells this last part, and the entire table of green turns to look at him.  
“Jeez, Al, don’t estrange yourself from your entire house,” the middle girl laughs. “You’re one of them now. Just accept it.”  
Albus is now tearing up and trying to hide it.  
“Just… what is my dad going to say?”  
“Has he not written back to you?” the older girl asks.  
“I haven’t written to him at all yet.”  
“Oh, come on, Albus, you have to write to your parents! They want to know what’s going on with your life!”  
“I can’t do it. They’re going to be disappointed in me.”  
“No they’re not. Write to your family. They deserve to know how you’re doing,” the boy says.   
Albus doesn’t say anything.  
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay,” the oldest girl says.  
“Yeah. But um, by the way, if you’re so worried about your image, maybe you shouldn’t be hanging out with the Malfoy kid,” the boy says. “The whole school is talking about it.”  
“I’m not hanging out with him!”  
“Okay, fine. Whatever.”  
The siblings start to walk back to their table but the middle girl with the blonde streak turns around again to say, “Talk to Rose!”

***

When Herbology comes, the first years wind through the castle and onto the grounds. The sun is shining bright, but there is a nip in the clear air. The Slytherin class joins a first year Hufflepuff class already waiting in front of the row of greenhouses. When the Slytherins arrive, they’re greeted by a dumpy blonde man wearing a goofy smile and gardening gloves.  
“Hi, first years! I’m Professor Longbottom. Follow me into Greenhouse One and we’ll get started.”  
The students file into the hot, humid place filled with plants of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Dahlia and Scorpius settle at the end of the greenhouse, but after watching Albus linger on the side, away from them, Luka decides to do the same. He realizes that the blonde boy that talked to Albus at lunch had a point. Being friends with Scorpius is definitely not going to do Luka any social favors, and neither is being friends with Albus. This group almost become friends on the train ride, but Luka now understands it can’t be that way. Albus is the laughing stock of the school and Scorpius is descended from sinister people, people who are locked up in Azkaban. Dahlia is the only one Luka really likes, but she comes in a pair with Scorpius, and Luka isn’t sure if it’s worth it.  
Professor Longbottom goes to the end of the greenhouse to retrieve a tray of small plants, but stops beside Albus on the way back.  
“Hey, Al. How have your first two days of school been?”  
“Great!” Albus lies. “It’s good to see you.”  
“You too, kid. Are you excited for class?”  
“Definitely.”  
Professor Longbottom smiles and heads towards the front of the greenhouse.  
“Alright. Welcome to Herbology. Today, we are learning about some simple plants, nothing too crazy. We’ll be focusing on ____ and _____ for a few weeks, then move on to mosses and underwater weeds.”  
Professor Longbottom continues on to introduce the plants of the day. Luka finds them all incredibly boring. He finds his mind wandering as the professor gives them instructions. When he stops talking and everyone starts moving, Luka realizes he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He turns to a tall Hufflepuff boy with olive skin and sunny blonde hair and asks timidly, “What are we doing?”  
The Hufflepuff boy smiles. “We’re sorting Fluxweed into one pile and Knotgrass into another. Did you miss that part?”  
“Yeah, sorry.”  
“That’s okay. Herbology isn’t exactly the most exciting subject. But I like Professor Longbottom.”  
“Yeah, me too,” Luka responds absentmindedly as he begins sorting the plants.  
“So, you’re American,” the Hufflepuff boy notices. Luka nods.  
“That’s cool. What brought you here?”  
“Uh, my dad’s work.”  
“Cool.”  
The Hufflepuff boy continues to make conversation with Luka, who is only halfway listening. It’s thirty minutes later when Luka’s ears drift away from the boy and to the conversation going on at the end of the greenhouse. He hears a tall boy with curly black hair say Dahlia’s name. When he listens further, he hears the boy teasing Dahlia. Luka’s chest lurches just like before. Why are people targeting Dahlia, too? He thought it was just Albus. I mean, she’s pretty, but that’s no reason to give her a hard time. The obnoxious boy continues to blabber on, but then he says something that makes not only Luka’s chest lurch, but his whole body. Luckily, he controls himself just enough to yell, “Hey!” rather than something worse. Then, he realizes that Scorpius and Albus yelled the same thing, both them moving towards the mean boy threateningly. Scorpius even pushes him.  
“Hey, what’s going on over there?” Professor Longbottom asks. Scorpius, Albus, and the boy all say, “Nothing,” but Professor Longbottom walks over and tells Scorpius he saw him push the boy. Luka hears the professor take five points from Slytherin. He would usually feel disappointed at this, but before he has time to react, he notices that Dahlia is walking briskly, with her head down, out of the greenhouse. Professor Longbottom sees her and asks, “Is everything okay?” but she’s outside before he finishes the question, so he directs it at Albus and Scorpius instead.  
“Yeah, I think she’ll be fine. He was saying horrible things about her, she just needs to get away,” Scorpius says, shooting daggers at the black-haired boy. Professor Longbottom begins to interrogate him, and Luka hears with a hint of enjoyment Professor Longbottom taking points from Hufflepuff, too. Scorpius follows Dahlia out of the greenhouse without asking Professor Longbottom if he can be excused. Luka decides to do the same, and on his way out, he hears Albus talking to the professor, who excuses him. The three boys, tension between each one of them, run out of the Greenhouse and follow Dahlia into the castle. Unfortunately, they lose Dahlia after she goes inside.  
“Where do you think she went?” Albus asks, out of breath.  
“Maybe the common room,” Scorpius says, and they head through the hallway, down the stairs, and say the password before entering the common room. When they enter, only a few upperclassmen are there. They ask the students if they saw a girl go up to her dormitory, but they shake their heads.  
“Dammit,” Scorpius says. “Where would she have gone?”  
The three boys set off again, back through the stony passage, up the stairs, into the hallways, and check every room and ask every girl if they’ve seen Dahlia in the bathroom. They don’t speak to each other, just breathe heavily as they walk, jog, and run everywhere, exploring parts of the castle they haven’t seen yet, and they do it all together. But after an hour of looking, they still haven’t found her.  
“Guys! I think I might know where she is,” Albus finally says.  
“Where?” Luka asks impatiently.  
“In the bathroom.”  
Scorpius rolls his eyes.  
“Albus, we already asked every girl we’ve seen if she’s in one of the bathrooms.”  
Albus just smiles.  
“Not this bathroom.”  
Albus walks up to an older student passing by.  
“Hey, do you know where Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom is?”  
The older student tells him and they set off immediately. They wind through the hallways, narrowly avoiding an encounter with Peeves, until they finally stop.  
“This is it,” Albus says.  
“We can’t go in there,” Scorpius says, slightly out of breath. “It’s a girl’s bathroom.”  
“No, it’s fine. My dad told me about this place. No one ever comes in here because a really annoying ghost haunts it. Her name is Moaning Myrtle. She’s really sensitive, so be careful.”  
The three boys open the door and step carefully inside. It seems to be entirely deserted.  
“Hello?” Albus calls out, his voice echoing against the while porcelain and tile in the otherwise silent room. Then, they hear a loud squeal and see a mostly transparent girl float through one of the bathroom stalls.  
“What do you want?” she groans. “I was just about to flush my head in the toilet!”  
Luka wants to ask why she would ever that when he remembers Albus’ warning. He keeps his mouth shut.  
“Sorry to disturb you, we were just looking for a girl,” Albus says. “She’s not in here, so I guess we’ll be on our way.”  
“Wait! What kind of a girl are you looking for?”  
“She’s a first year. She has long blonde hair. It’s fine, we’ll just go-”  
“I saw that girl! She came in here a while ago. She was crying.”  
“Do you know where she is now?” Luka asks.  
“She said she was going to the lake.”  
“Really? Thanks!” Luka says, and starts to leave.  
“Oh, I see how it is, you come in just to find some pretty girl and don’t care at all about how I’m doing.”  
“We’re sorry, Myrtle, but we have to go,” Albus says, also attempting an escape. They make it out of the bathroom without any more whining from Moaning Myrtle.  
The three boys practically run out of the castle and onto the grounds. The afternoon air has become evening air, and makes Luka shiver slightly, although its freshness invigorates him. He and the others march towards the lake, squinting their eyes against the setting sun to try to find her.  
“Where are you going?”  
The voice belongs to Ardeo. He’s sneering, his eyes burning at the excitement of having three people to bully. The boys turn away from him, trying to focus on getting to Dahlia.  
“I asked you a question.”  
“Yeah, we’re not deaf,” Luka barks.  
“Seems like it. Or maybe you’re just being rude.”  
“Oh, we’re being rude?” Scorpius says, turning around to face Ardeo. Luka feels the tension that precedes a fight and his heart starts beating faster.  
“You know what they say, secrets don’t make friends. And Merlin knows you all need some.”  
“As if we’d want to be friends with you,” Luka says in a burst of confidence. Ardeo approaches him, standing too close for comfort.  
“You’d ought to take what you can get. These dorks aren’t going to do much for your social life. The whole school thinks they’re weirdos.”  
“I don’t care what people think.”  
Suddenly, the next person yelling is Scorpius, and it’s directed at Luka.  
“Oh, come on, of course you do!”  
“What?”  
“You hate me and Albus! You think we’re weird, too! You’ve been distant to us ever since the Sorting!”  
“Well maybe I wouldn’t be so distant if you weren’t so snobby and quiet! I don’t really care that you’re a Malfoy, but you act like you’re not worth anything because of it, and it’s annoying!”  
“Stop fighting,” Albus says quietly. Luka turns to him.  
“You, too. I know you’re going through something hard here, and people are being mean to you, but you act like it’s such a big deal when it’s not. No one cares that you’re in Slytherin! And maybe you’re so bad at magic because you’re sabotaging yourself!”  
“STOP FIGHTING!”  
This time, the order comes from Dahlia. She’s standing a few feet away, facing away from the lake, her eyes puffy and her face stern.  
“Ardeo, leave now or you will have a four-on-one fight, and we will make sure our word overrides yours in McGonagall’s office.”  
Ardeo snickers, acting as though he hasn’t just been fully threatened and defeated by a pretty girl, and walks off. Once he’s gone, Dahlia addresses the group left.  
“Come with me.”  
She leads the three boys to the largest tree on the horizon, her silhouette defined against the bright orange setting sun. She sits down at the trunk of the grand tree, settling into a nook large enough for the four of them. The three boys sit next to her and Luka stares in her direction. Her usually pale skin is painted with warmth, the sunset reflecting off the waters of the dark lake right into her eyes.  
“We spent forever looking for you,” Scorpius says.  
“Sorry,” she replies. “I just needed some time alone.”  
There’s a moment of silence, one that all three boys are thinking about how to break, but then Dahlia speaks again.  
“This lake is so beautiful. It really is completely black. Not the water itself. But everything underneath it makes it look that way.”  
For a minute, everyone looks out at the lake. The sun isn’t too harsh in their eyes. The atmosphere protects them as it radiates around the horizon, reflects off the lake, and bathes them in light. They see the parts of the lake that aren’t stricken by the sun and notice that it is truly black.  
“We need to stick together.”  
Her voice is resolute, strong, pushing its way through the air. The three boys look at her.  
“Today was horrible. Yesterday wasn’t amazing, either. And tomorrow will probably be just as hard. Everyone is going to pick on Albus, at least for a while. Some people will think Scorpius is evil. A lot of guys are going to be real arses to me. Luka’s always going to be the American outcast. It doesn’t matter, though. We can’t change anything. All we can do is help each other. The bullying and teasing can’t hurt us as long as we have friends watching out for us. I like you guys. You’re mostly just a bunch of jerks, but you’re also kind and smart and you’re the only people I feel comfortable with in this school. So do you agree to stick together, no matter what?”  
They all say, “Yes,” in unison. There’s a short moment of silence before Scorpius says, “Are you sure you’re on board, Luka?”  
With those words, Luka feels as though the sunset became a spotlight, as if its heat all compressed into his body, burning up all the secrets and the defenses and the walls.  
“Yeah. I am.”


	6. Evil in the Forbidden Forest

“Welcome, students. Today, we are learning to perform the Vermillious charm. There are three version of the this charm: Vermillious Uno, Vermillious Duo, and Vermillious Tria, each one more powerful than the last. I am going to teach you the first for a few days, then we’ll learn Vermillious Duo. This charm produces red sparks from the tip of your wand and can be used in dueling or for other things. In your case, this will be particularly useful to know in case of an emergency, where you can use the red sparks to signal for help. Of course, the Periculum charm is much better for that, but that is a slightly more difficult magic that you will not learn until second year. Now, I’ve lined up four dummies across the room. Que up, and take turns attempting to cast the spell on the dummy. Be careful of where you point your wand. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”  
Professor Horthwrite quickly teaches the class the proper pronunciation of the incantation and the wand movement, then lets them line up in front of the dummies. Dahlia and Scorpius end up in one line while Albus and Luka end up in the next. Luka notices Ardeo glaring at him and Albus from the next line over.  
The first time Albus tries, he elicits an impressive string of red sparks from his wand, although they don’t go quite far enough to reach the dummy.  
“Wonderful work, Mr. Potter,” Professor Horthwrite says encouragingly. Luka can almost feel the discontent ebbing from Ardeo.  
Luka attempts the spell, and gets similar results as Albus, who he joins in the back of the line afterward. They talk excitedly about the task, both eager to try again. Once they get their chance, Albus does even better than last time, his sparks grazing the dummy.  
“Just a bit closer, Mr. Potter,” the professor says.  
Albus’ third attempt yields amazing results. His sparks are bright, powerful, hot, and wrap around the dummy, causing it to shiver and slightly burn.  
“Excellent, Potter, excellent!” Professor Vanderway exclaims.  
Luka barely has time to comprehend what happens next. All he sees is a flash of red light speed through the air from his right and directly hit Albus in the chest. Albus yells, shivering just like all the dummies did when struck with the spell. The spell subsides and Albus is left pale-faced and shocked.  
“Professor!” Luka yells, but Professor Horthwrite is already on his way.  
“What happened?” he asks in a more urgent voice than Luka has ever heard from him. He doesn’t quite know how to answer the question until he sees Ardeo standing, his eyes wide with defense but his lips slightly curled into an almost undetectable grin.  
“Someone hit Albus with their spell.”  
“Are you okay, Mr. Potter?”  
Albus nods.  
“Do you need to go to the hospital wing?”  
“No, I’m fine. Just scared me, is all.”  
Professor Horthwrite nods and then looks around.  
“Who hit Albus?”  
To Luka’s surprise, Ardeo steps forward.  
“I’m sorry, Professor, it was me. I lost control of my wand.”  
Professor Vanderway looks stern, but not angry.  
“Mr. Ephraim, please keep your wand in control from here on out.”  
“Yes, sir.”  
“And five points from Gryffindor for your potentially dangerous lack of coordination.”  
Despite the points taken and the insult to his skill, Ardeo looks at Albus and Luka as though he’s won. His smug look makes Luka want to kill him.  
After classes end that day, Scorpius, Luka, Dahlia, and Albus sit together in the common room.  
“I can’t believe he did that to you, Albus. Teasing is one thing, but assault is even worse. Why didn’t you tell Professor Horthwrite that he did it on purpose?”  
“Because he wouldn’t believe me,” Albus says, shrugging. “I had no proof. Plus, there’s no point in trying to fight against him. If we just ignore him maybe he’ll stop.”  
“No, definitely not. Once a prick, always a prick. We need to get back at him.”  
“Scorpius, no,” Albus protests.  
“Scorpius is right,” Dahlia says. That sentence is enough for Albus, Luka, and Scorpius himself to snap their heads up and look at Dahlia incredulously.  
“What?” she asks defensively.  
“I’ve never heard you say that,” Luka laughs.  
“Especially about something like this,” Albus adds. Dahlia smiles.  
“Yeah, I guess not. That’s because Scorpius is an idiot ninety percent of the time but a genius the other ten percent.”  
“Yeah, that’s true,” Scorpius laughs. “I’m glad you agree with me. What do you think we should to do him?”  
“You’re not doing anything to him!” Albus exclaims. “We’re only going to get in trouble.”  
“That’s what this school is for,” Luka says, surprising himself with his own words. “Getting into trouble.”  
After an evening full of planning, Albus, Scorpius, Dahlia, and Luka set out for classes the next day, full of confidence. When they get to Potions, they continually make eye contact with each other, waiting for the right moment. Professor Slughorn puts them into partners-- Albus and Dahlia are paired, then Scorpius and Luka. He tells them to take a table, and Scorpius and Luka make sure to get the same one as Ardeo. Albus and Dahlia are only one table away.  
They get started, and as they work, Scorpius drinks out of a clear bottle of water. He makes sure Pravus sees him drink at least a few times. Then, he hides the bottle under the table and Luka tries not to look as he pours the pink powder into the water. Without attracting any attention, he whispers a spell that turns the pink water clear again, and puts it back on the table. He looks at Dahlia, who nods discreetly and whispers her own spell, pointing her wand at Pravus.  
The effects are immediate. Ardeo smacks his lips, a confused look on his face.  
“God, my mouth is so dry.”  
His partner doesn’t say anything, but Ardeo only gets worse.  
“No, seriously,” he says, his speech slightly hindered. “It’s really dry. I need some water, now.”  
To Albus, Dahlia, Scorpius, and Luka’s fear, Ardeo starts to leave his table to get water outside of the classroom. But Scorpius saves the plan by saying, “Hey mate, here’s some water.”  
“I don’t want to drink yours, you-” but Ardeo’s words don’t come anymore. He coughs, clutching at his throat, and takes the water with utmost contempt. He down almost all of it, sighing happily once it’s gone.  
“You’re welcome,” Scorpius says, hardly containing his smile. Ardeo frowns and gets back to work.  
` This is when Luka starts to panic. The powder in the water is slow-acting, but he doesn’t know if it’s slow-acting enough. It’ll probably happen in this class period, and Ardeo and anyone else who noticed his dry-mouth frenzy will definitely suspect the guy who gave him water. Nothing else would make sense. Luka’s heart races, wishing they had filled in this hole in their plan, which now seemed ridiculously risky.  
His thoughts are interrupted when he sees the first enormous pimple sprout right on the tip of Ardeo’s nose. Some of Luka’s panic leaves at the hilarity, but it comes back when everyone in the class starts staring-- and laughing-- at Ardeo. The pimples spread all across his cheeks, forehead, and chin. Smaller pimples crawl down his neck and under his robes. Ardeo is yelling, touching his red face with horror.  
“Mr. Ephraim, what happened to you?” Professor Slughorn asks, walking over to the table.  
“I don’t know, I just-- wait. It was you!” he points at Scorpius. “You gave me that water. I bet you made my mouth dry, too! I knew something was strange about that. What did you put in there, huh?”  
Scorpius is stammering, trying to save himself, but nothing intelligible comes out. Meanwhile, Ardeo continues to throw accusations.  
“Your Potter friend probably helped you, didn’t he?”  
That’s when Luka steps in.  
“Albus didn’t help him. It was me. I messed with the water. Scorpius didn’t do anything, either.”  
Ardeo starts yelling about how Scorpius had to have helped, but Luka is now listening to Professor Slughorn.  
“Mr. Jones, Mr. Malfoy, is this true?”  
“Yes, I’m sorry Professor. I did it. Scorpius did nothing,” Luka says, but Ardeo interrupts him.  
“Professor Slughorn, I know the Malfoy kid was in on it. It was his water bottle. He wouldn’t mess with his own friends’ water.”  
“Well, Mr. Ephraim, you make a good point. Mr. Jones, Mr. Malfoy, I do not appreciate you interrupting my class. Go see Professor McGonagall and she will sort this all out. Meanwhile, I advise you to not cause a scene like this again. Out you go.”  
Scorpius and Luka walk out of the classroom shamefully, Albus and Dahlia staring at them thankfully as they leave. Luka may have saved them, but every step he takes towards Professor McGonagall’s office brings more regret for his decision. Why did he sacrifice himself for them? Technically, he didn’t even do anything, he just helped them plan it. He could have gotten away with no punishment. A stone of anxiety weighs in his chest as he imagines what Professor McGonagall is going to do to them.  
Finally, after a particularly maze-like journey through the castle, Scorpius and Luka reach the gargoyle that leads to the office. They scramble for a moment when they realize they don’t know the password, but somehow the gargoyle moves without them saying anything and reveals a spiral staircase. Scorpius and Luka reluctantly climb the steps until they reach the door. They knock, and Professor McGonagall invites them in.  
The room is large and circular, with many windows overlooking the sunny grounds. Shelves line the walls, books and papers and strange objects arranged neatly upon them. Professor McGonagall’s desk is large and dark, covered with papers and other objects. The Headmistress herself is sitting behind the desk in a tall chair, wearing ruby-red robes, her eyes looking particularly stern beneath her dainty spectacles.  
“I’ve never known how in the world so many antics can occur during the first week of the year. I never expect much to happen so early on, but it always does. You’re not the only first years to have ever caused a ruckus this early in the term. In fact, you are a statistic.”  
Scorpius and Luka look at each other. Luka doesn’t know how Professor McGonagall is aware of what happened already, but it makes him feel extremely uneasy.  
“Well, sit,” she says, staring at them with a piercing look. Once they take a seat, she continues.  
“I would like the truth here. Who contributed in this prank?”  
“It was the two of us, Professor,” Scorpius says to Luka’s surprise. “Luka said I didn’t do it, but I did.”  
“I see. And no one else was in on it?”  
“No, Professor,” Scorpius lies.  
“And may I ask why would you partake in such ridiculous misconduct?”  
“Because Ardeo Ephraim hurt Albus, Professor.”  
Professor McGonagall raises her eyebrows.  
“What do you mean?”  
“When we were learning the Vermillious charm in Defense Against the Dark Arts, he hit Albus with the spell and played it off as an accident. But it was just because he was jealous.”  
“How do you know it wasn’t an accident, Mr. Malfoy?”  
“Because he’s a pompous jerk.”  
Scorpius and Luka are both swarmed with confusion when Professor McGonagall’s lips curl into a smile. But after a moment, they turn back down again.  
“Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Jones, behavior like this will not be tolerated here. I’m afraid your opinion of a student does not count as proof that they assaulted Mr. Potter, although we will keep an eye on Mr. Ephraim. As for you two, I am taking twenty-five points from each of you and you will serve detention this weekend. I will have Professor Hagrid send you the details. I know that Hogwarts is a comfortable place, and I happen to know that both of your fathers were very playful and curious boys, but that does not give you permission to harm other students, are we clear?”  
“Yes, Professor,” they both say.  
“Good. I don’t want to see you up here again. You are free to go.”  
Scorpius and Luka leave the office quickly, stepping quickly down the spiral staircase into the corridor.  
“Well, that wasn’t as awful as I was expecting,” Scorpius says.  
“Why did you confess? I could have saved you the punishment!” Luka says, his voice coated with annoyance.  
“I don’t know, I guess I thought it’d be better to be in this together.”  
“So you’d rather two people get detention than one?”  
“Yeah, I mean, I thought you’d be grateful. Serving detention alone would suck.”  
“Well you should have gone along with what I was doing. I was trying to help you and you just made me look a liar in front of the Headmistress.”  
Luka storms off, only angrier after yelling at Scorpius. He knows what he said wasn’t necessary and that Scorpius was only thinking of him, but Luka just can’t stand Scorpius’ obvious acceptance of the consequences of his mischief. Maybe Luka was right all along. Maybe Scorpius and the others are a bad influence on him.  
Luka spends the rest of the day sitting with the others in class, Scorpius glaring at him every so often. After class, he goes out to the Quidditch pitch to fly around for a while. He flies far, as far as he can, winding around the castle and over the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He knows that if anyone sees him flying like this, he’ll be in trouble, but he can’t help it. Flying is the only thing that calms him down.  
The next morning at breakfast, he and Scorpius receive a letter from Professor Hagrid telling them that their detention will start at 9:00 that night and that they’ll be going into the Forbidden Forest. At that, Scorpius groans.  
“What is wrong with this school? They tell everyone that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden-- as if its name doesn’t already convey that-- and then once you get in trouble they throw out into it? I mean, there’s all sorts of things in that forest. We could die!”  
“Don’t be so melodramatic,” Dahlia says, rolling her eyes. “You’ll have Professor Hagrid with you, and he’s very knowledgeable about magical creatures. He’ll keep you safe.”  
His walk at the lake ends when he sees Albus, Dahlia, and Scorpius heading towards him. He tries to avoid them while walking back up to the castle, but they already saw him and Dahlia speaks to him the moment they cross paths.  
“Hey, where have you been?” she asks.  
“I was flying.”  
“Well, do you want to hang out at the lake with us?”  
“Actually, I was about to go finish my weekend homework.”  
Dahlia looks unconvinced, but she says, “Okay, have fun.” Luka feels bad for turning her down. She seems disappointed every time he splits off from their group. The thought makes him happy, but then he realizes that and shoves it out of his mind.  
Luka actually does do his homework for a while, but then he resorts to wandering the castle to entertain himself. He works his way up from the Slytherin common room to the Great Hall, then goes upstairs. He wanders into corridors he didn’t even know existed, swings his head into classrooms he’s never entered. At one point, he runs into Filch, who is a very old man with a very mean grimace, who interrogates Luka for at least have an hour, trying to find a reason to take him to his office, until a Hufflepuff prefect saves him. The prefect advises Luka to go outside in order to avoid another confrontation with Filch, but Luka only climbs another flight of stairs and continues to wander.  
It’s then that Luka finds a room that is not a classroom or a closet. It’s a trophy room. Luka steps carefully inside, already reading the bottom of every trophy he sees. Many of them are for Quidditch, others are for academic achievement, and some are for special services to the school. That’s when he sees Harry Potter’s trophy. Or, rather, his trophies. He has seven of them. Then, Luka notices the other trophies surrounding those seven. They all say Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They all have one for every year they saved Hogwarts. Luka knows the stories, of course. In fact, Luka’s dad started at Hogwarts the year Dolores Umbridge took over the school. He saw, secondhand, Dumbledore’s Army come together. He saw Umbridge come and go as the leader of the school. He was at Dumbledore’s funeral. He saw the Battle of Hogwarts, or at least part of it, before he and the other underclassmen were led out of the castle. He saw the end of Harry Potter’s mission to defeat Voldemort. Luka’s dad has shared all of these stories with his son. But even if Luka hadn’t heard those stories from his dad, he would still know many of them. Everyone in the wizarding world does.  
While staring at these trophies, Luka sees a second row behind Harry’s. There, he finds one for Luna Lovegood, another for Neville Longbottom, and a third for Ginny Weasley. Only then is Luka consumed by a deep curiosity of what it must be like to be the son of Harry and Ginny Potter. Luka remembers Albus’ color-drained face as he heard himself being sorted into Slytherin. Now, Luka understands. The only trophy on the shelf not adorned with red rubies is Luna Lovegood’s. But none are adorned with emeralds. No one wanted to give an award to a Slytherin.  
But, as he leaves, Luka’s eye somehow detects a faint shimmer of green. He turns around to look at a cardboard box, where he finds the source of the color. He pulls out a trophy just like the others, with deep green emeralds embedded around the bottom. The trophy says, “Draco Malfoy: For Valiant Nobility in the Face of Darkness.” Luka wonders what Draco did that was so valiant and noble. He also wonders why this trophy isn’t on the shelf with all the rest.  
Scorpius doesn’t speak when Luka meets him in front of the castle. Luka maintains this silence as they walk through the grounds to Hagrid’s hut, their feet crunching in the first fallen leaves. When they reach the hut, Hagrid is already outside, holding a large lantern in his enormous hand.  
“Ah, there you are. You boys ready?”  
“What are we going to do in there?” Scorpius asks, eyeing the line of trees fearfully.  
“We’re lookin’ fer Lepanguis tracks. They’ve been pickin’ around my Kimma Bug hatchlings. S’been a bit of a problem fer Care of Magical Creatures class.”  
“What exactly is a Lepanguis?” Luka asks as he begins to understand Scorpius’ fear.  
“Oh, don’ be scared. They only eat little creatures. You two are much too big fer ‘im.”  
As if that was enough explanation, Professor Hagrid leads Scorpius and Luka into the edge of the forest. He takes them down a rough trail and they wind through the the thick trees in even thicker darkness, the lantern in Hagrid’s fist emitting what feels like the light of a single match in an expansive dark sea. Luka doesn’t like the feeling that drips over him as he follows directly behind Hagrid’s massive body that he can’t help but think of as a shield. It feels as though the entire forest is simultaneously dead and alive. As if the eerie stillness is sinking into his own body, trying to stop his heart, but also as if the unseen creatures lurking around them are injecting their own consciousness into the trees and bushes, making Luka feel as though everything in forest is watching him, waiting for him to make a wrong move.  
After about five minutes of walking in silence, Luka hears a twig snap behind him and his heart jumps as he simultaneously realizes how fake the rustles and groans he’s been imagining are and how horrifyingly real this one is. He turns around, along with Hagrid and Scorpius, and he can’t believe what he’s seeing in front of him. At first he thinks it’s a very tall man, but then he sees the hair and the hooves and the entire behind of the creature, and realizes it must be a centaur.  
“Hagrid. What brings you to the forest this night?” the centaur asks, his voice deep and raspy, his eyes flickering up to the sky.  
“Hello, Firenze. Just bringin’ these first years along with me to find the Lepanguis tha’s been disturbin’ my hatchlings.”  
“I would not advise that you bring young people into this forest, Hagrid,” the centaur says ominously. “We have been watching the skies. Uranus is coming into its next orbit.”  
It’s silent for a moment, until Hagrid finally asks, “What does that mean?”  
“Danger is coming.”  
Firenze stares into the sky for a long time, Hagrid, Scorpius, and Luka standing awkwardly in front of him. Suddenly, Firenze looks back down at them and says urgently, “You must leave now. Do not come back, Hagrid. Do not take the children here for a while.”  
“How long is ‘a while’?” Hagrid asks.  
“Until things get better.”  
With that, Firenze gallops off through the trees, leaving Hagrid, Scorpius, and Luka very confused. But Hagrid eventually leads Scorpius and Luka back the way they came, muttering as they walk.  
“Damn centaur. Don’ know what he’s goin’ on about. As if he s’pects me to know what ‘a while’ means.”  
“What was that, Professor Hagrid?” Luka asks, his head swimming with questions. “What did he mean, ‘danger is coming’?”  
“I don’ know, but it don’ sound good. Centaurs are the best astronomers of any species, but they don’ tell ya anything straightforward. But they’re usually right about whatever is they’re goin’ on about, so I’d take Firenze’s advice and not go back in there.”  
Hagrid’s uncertainty stops the rest of Luka’s questions, knowing he can’t answer them.   
They’re almost to the edge of the forest when Hagrid stops and Luka almost bumps into him.  
“Sorry, jus’ saw a track. Looks like a Lepanguis.”  
Hagrid stands up for a moment, sighing, then says, “Listen, I know Firenze said the forest was dangerous, but we’re almost to the edge. I need to find this damn animal, so wait here and don’t move ‘til I get back. I won’ be long. If anything happens, just keep goin’ down this trail and you’ll get to the castle grounds.”  
With that, Hagrid stomps off in search for the elusive animal, leaving Scorpius and Luka scared and frustrated.  
“What an idiot. He can’t just leave us here!” Scorpius says, rubbing his shivering arms, silver moonlight peeking through the trees to fall on his luminous white hair and cast shadows across his scowling face. Luka looks at him for a moment, and knows what he has to do.  
“I’m sorry for getting mad at you.”  
It takes a moment for Scorpius to register what Luka said, but when he does, his lips tighten and his eyes blink. He doesn’t say anything.  
“Seriously, I’m sorry. I was scared and pissed that we got in trouble and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I appreciate what you did. You’re right, this would be horrible to have to do alone.”  
Scorpius crosses his arms and says with a poisonous tone, “You realize you’re going to have to trust me at some point, right?”  
“Yeah, I know-”  
“And for some reason you seem to be perfectly fine with Dahlia being your friend but the minute I get involved, you close off.”  
Luka’s heart feels heavy and sharp.  
“That’s not true-”  
“Yes it is. Stop lying. You force yourself to hang out with me and Albus because you have a stupid crush on Dahlia.”  
Luka feels the same rage he’s already felt multiple times this week bubble inside him again, but then he hears a twig snap just like when Firenze creeped up on them, only this time there is a lot more rustling along with it. Both boys stop, holding their breath, adrenaline coursing through Luka’s veins both from his anger and his fear. The rustling continues, and Scorpius asks in a barely audible whisper, “What is that?”  
Luka shakes his head, his heart pounding. He watches Scorpius turn and start to walk back down the path towards Hagrid’s house, laying his feet slowly and carefully on the ground, but Luka walks up to him, not bothering to stay quiet, and grabs his arm. Scorpius curses at him in a whisper, but Luka hushes him. He takes Scorpius by the hand and leads him towards the source of the noise.  
“What the bloody hell are you doing? We need to get out of here!” Scorpius whisper-screams.  
“What if it’s a Lepanguis? What if it’s another centaur?” Luka asks.  
“Either doesn’t seem very appealing. We don’t even know what in Merlin’s name a freaking Lepanguis is!”  
“Just follow me.”  
Luka doesn’t know why he walks towards the noise, but when he finally sees a dark shape between the trees of the forest, he thinks of Caligo. A shiver runs through his spine and he suppresses a smile. And then the moonlight finds the shape and reveals a strikingly familiar face, one that brings disgust rather than fondness.  
“Ardeo,” Scorpius whispers.  
Luka’s whole body is buzzing with curiosity, but he forces his muscles to freeze as he watches Ardeo kneel on the leaf-strewn ground. The boy takes out a small dagger-- more like a letter opener, really-- and swiftly brings the blade to his inner wrist, pressing the metal into his skin. Licorice-colored liquid seeps out of the wound, and Ardeo directs the blood into a goblet that Luka didn’t notice before. Luka feels his own blood pulsing in his body, excitement and fear flooding his veins, but most importantly: familiarity. The adrenaline becomes too much, and Luka fidgets, re-positioning his foot on the crunchy forest floor. To his dismay, the sound is loud enough that Ardeo snaps his head up, peering frantically through the trees like a startled animal. Scorpius’ cold hand wraps around Luka’s wrist and pulls him as quietly as possible through the trees, back to the trail. Scorpius and Luka walk back to Hagrid’s house quickly, reaching the edge of the forest in no time. When they reach the steps of the hut, Scorpius says at a normal volume, “What in the living hell did we just see?”  
“I would be lying if I said I had no idea,” Luka responds.


	7. Accusations

"His name is Caligo.”  
The four outcasts sit under the same tree at the edge of the black lake. Albus, Dahlia, and Scorpius listen to Luka intently.  
“He lived in this house in the middle of the woods. I only stumbled upon it because I was exploring around my house. The house was about a mile from mine. At first, I thought it was abandoned, but when I tried the door, it was locked. And when I knocked, someone answered. He was my age. He didn’t talk a lot. He was really scared of me at first. But I finally got to know him better and he told me a little about his life. He lived with his parents, but they were never at the house. He told me he was breaking the rules to see me, but we kept hanging out. We even made a signal for when his parents were there, so they wouldn’t see me.  
“We were best friends. But a few days before school started, we got into this big argument. He told me that we couldn’t be friends anymore, that I could never come back to see him. I didn’t understand why; it was so out of the blue. So the next day, I came back to try to understand what happened. But his parents were outside. It was the first time I ever saw them. And he was standing by them. When he saw me… he came after me, and I didn’t even run away, because I wanted to try to talk to him. He tackled me, and pulled out this strange knife, and cut my arm with it. He was crying. All he said was, ‘There, I did it.’ I didn’t know what was happening, I just looked at him, crying. His parents were watching the whole thing. He just stared at me until I finally had the nerve to run away. And that was the last time I saw him.”  
There is a moment of silence. Everyone looks at Luka, almost as if they’re trying to determine if he’s lying. But they believe him.  
“Wow, Luka. Thats…”  
“Insane? I know,” he says. “I can barely even believe it myself. It’s all I’ve been able to think about for the past week.”  
“And you never knew why? At all?”  
“No. I know something is going on, though. It’s all been suspicious, from the very beginning. He kept so many secrets from me and barely any were ever answered, so now we have to find the truth.”  
“But how?” Scorpius asks. “We don’t anything, really. We have no leads.”  
“Well, obviously Ardeo is a lead,” Luka says. “He used the same knife that Caligo used. He cut the same part of his arm where Caligo cut me. He must know something.”  
“Maybe there’s a group or something. Like people all across the world who follow the same practices,” Albus proposes. “Oh, and that’s what the X’s might be! It could signify who is in the group!”  
“I don’t think it’s a group,” Luka responds. “Unless it’s the adults who are in it. Caligo would never be a part of a group like that. Maybe his parents were forcing him to do what he did.”  
“Do you think that’s what’s happening with Ardeo?” Dahlia asks. Luka shakes his head.  
“No. I think he knows exactly what he’s doing.”  
“Maybe, if it’s not a group or a cult or whatever, it could be a practice than anyone can do. Like a ritual than you can find in a book or something,” Scorpius says.  
“But what would the ritual be for?” Dahlia asks. “I mean, Caligo cut you but Ardeo cut himself.”  
“Maybe it’s for protection?” Albus ponders. “I mean, you were friends with Caligo, so he probably didn’t want to hurt you. And Ardeo wouldn’t hurt himself for no reason. He probably wants something to protect him.”  
“That’s a good point, Albus,” Scorpius says. Albus smiles at him. “What do you think, Luka?”  
“I don’t know. It makes sense, except I know that he didn’t want to do whatever he did. I felt like his parents were forcing him to do it. He never wanted them to see me, so I wonder if they wanted to hurt me but they forced him to do it instead.”  
“Why would they want to hurt you of all people, though?” Scorpius asks. “I mean, they could have hurt their own son, seeing as they didn’t care about him at all.”  
Luka doesn’t say anything to this, since he doesn’t have an answer.  
“Listen, we don’t know anything about why this happened, but we know that it’s got to be some sort of ritual. I say we focus on figuring out what the hell Ardeo was doing in the forest,” Dahlia says. Luka nods in agreement.  
“How do we do that, though?” Albus asks.  
“I guess we should head to the library,” says Scorpius.

***

The following weeks pass quickly. Luka can’t believe it when Professor McGonagall announces the Halloween feast one evening at dinner-- on Halloween, he’ll have been here for two months. Between the demanding classes and the troubling mystery of Ardeo, Luka hasn’t even been keeping track of the time. His days are spent in class, his afternoons spent drawing star maps, labelling plant anatomy, practicing spells for Transfiguration and Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. His evenings are the only time he has to go to the library with Albus, Dahlia, and Scorpius to research dark rituals.  
“I’m telling you, we need to get to the restricted section,” Scorpius says one night in the library.  
“We can’t, there’s no way any of our professors would write us a note for that. I mean, what business do first years have in the restricted section?”  
“Trying to find out what creepy blood ritual their mysterious friend and sworn enemy are involved in,” Albus laughs.  
The others laugh with him, but then Albus’ smile falters. Dahlia, Luka, and Scorpius look to the counter, where Madam Pince sits, reading with her tiny spectacles. Rose has approached the counter to return a book, and she spots Albus’ gaze. She frowns and trots away.  
“Albus, you know you should talk to her,” Dahlia says.  
“Well she obviously doesn’t want to talk to me, why should I?”  
“Because she’s probably jealous that you’re making so many friends other than her!”  
“Oh, come on. She’s already best friends with that girl September and that guy Michael. Not to mention, she’s got Victoire and Dominique and Louis, and James and Fred and Ivy and Roxanne on her side.”  
“You’re family is on your side, too, Al.”  
“Yeah, sure.”  
Scorpius isn’t listening anymore. He’s flipping through a large book all about dark rituals, but his brows are knit together in frustration and he’s sighing.  
“Guys, even this giant book doesn’t have anything helpful. They water all this stuff down for the general population of the school. We need to get into the restricted section.”  
“How?” Dahlia asks.  
“Wait a second. What about Slughorn?” Albus says.

***

The next day, Albus, Dahlia, and Luka stick behind after Potions class. Unfortunately, even though Scorpius is just as good of a potion maker as Luka, they know Professor Slughorn doesn’t like him because of his reputation, which could harm their chances of getting what they need from him. But Professor Slughorn loves Luka’s potion skills, adores Albus’ fame and parentage, and having an innocent-seeming girl there may make it seem less like two boys trying to get into trouble. Professor Slughorn lingers at his desk while the final few people exit the dungeons, and the three remaining children approach him.  
“Professor…” Luka says.  
“Yes, Mr. Jones, is there something you need?” the man says, looking up at Luka and his friends.  
“Actually, there is. You see, professor, me and my friends here-”  
“Of course, Mr. Potter and Ms…”  
“Rose, sir.”  
“Yes, Rose, of course.:  
“Well…,” Luka continues, “there’s this assignment we have for Defense Against the Dark Arts class. You see, me and my friends wanted to research dark rituals that used to be practiced. We found some good information in the library, but we’d like to go more… in depth. We were wondering if you would write a note so we could access the restricted section?”  
“Just for academic purposes,” Dahlia adds.  
“Yes, sir, of course,” Albus says.  
Professor Slughorn’s bushy white mustache is stretched into a frown, his eyes peering suspiciously at them.  
“Why wouldn’t you ask Professor Vanderway this question? If I understand correctly, it’s his assignment that you need this for?”  
“Well, sir, I’m afraid he might… misunderstand? We thought you of all people would encourage further academic research, even if it is a bit… dark.”  
Professor Slughorn’s reaction is so extreme it’s almost frightening. He stands up quickly and forcefully, nearly knocking over the chair he was sitting in. While his head is an inch taller than theirs at the most, he somehow towers over them, his eyes turning dark.  
“No. I am not the professor to ask. If this really is for an assignment, you must ask the professor who assigned it. I am not involved with dark rituals or whatever it is you want to know about, whether or not the purpose is academic. Never come to me with something like this again, and advise your friends the same.”  
“I’m sorry, Professor, we didn’t mean to-” Dahlia tries, but the man shakes his head and sits back down. His eyes are still dark and serious, so the three students leave, defeated.  
“Well that was a bust,” Albus announces when they see Scorpius waiting in the hall.  
“Really? Why?”  
“Slughorn flipped out for some reason,” Luka explains. “Our cover story backfired-- he wants us to ask Professor Vanderway.”  
“Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” Scorpius says. “I mean, if he’s friends with your dad, Luka, maybe he’ll help us out without asking questions.”  
“You have a good point,” Albus says. “Let’s try it!”  
Their opportunity comes after lunch, when Defense Against the Dark Arts ends. Just like with Professor Slughorn, they wait for the class to leave and approach Professor Vanderway at his desk.  
“Um, professor?” Luka asks.  
“How can I help you, Mr. Jones?”  
“Actually, I was wondering if you could write us a note for the restricted section.”  
Professor Vanderway looks up at this, his expression more curious than suspcicious.  
“May I ask what for?”  
“I’d like to learn more about a dark ritual that I heard about.”  
“What kind of dark ritual?” Professor Vanderway asks, his eyes boring into Luka.  
“We think it’s a… blood ritual. We heard some students talking about it and wanted to know if it was something we should be worried about.”  
“Well, Mr. Jones, you could always just ask a professor if you are concerned about the intentions of another student. Do you really think this situation is serious?”  
Luka looks at his own feet, thinking. He decides to tell him the truth.  
“Actually, Professor, if I’m being honest… Scorpius and I saw the ritual happen.”  
The professor’s dark brown eyes fall down, his mouth curled into a solemn scowl.  
“Tell me about it.”  
“It was Ardeo, sir. The Gryffindor. He… he was in the forest. We were serving a detention with Professor Hagrid, and we saw Ardeo cut his arm with this weird, ornamental knife. He was yelling a lot. His blood drained out onto the forest floor. I don’t know what it means, what the purpose was, but all I know is it looked very dark and evil.”  
“You’re sure that it was Ardeo Ephraim?”  
“Yes, sir.”  
The professor sighs. Luka get the impression that he’s thinking very fast. Finally, he speaks.  
“Okay. Mr. Jones, you may have your note. I think it is admirable for you to want to investigate. In the meantime, I will also be looking into this. And, if this Ardeo really is doing this, then he might be very dangerous. And I understand that he has targeted your friend group in the past, so I advise you all to be very careful around him. I will do my very best to make sure you are not a victim of whatever he’s doing. I do ask, however, that you do not tell any other students or staff about this issue.”  
“Why not?” Dahlia asks. “Shouldn’t they know? At least the professors?”  
“No. You must understand, Ardeo comes from a very prominent family. We must not make allegations against him until we have absolute proof. And I’m afraid your word will not be enough.”  
“But sir-” Luka tries, but Professor Vanderway cuts him off.  
“Luka, I’m on your side. Trust me, and do what I say. I will do everything I can to make sure this is handled correctly. Do you understand?”  
Luka nods.  
“Good. If there’s nothing else, you may go.”

***

Albus, Dahlia, Scorpius, and Luka spend that night in the library, eagerly pacing through the restricted section of the library, weary of all the different books that could contain dark information, or books that may even be dangerous themselves. They walk past one book that growls, one that talks to them rather politely, and one that doesn’t speak but appears to be breathing slowly. They pick up any book that has to do with blood rituals or enchanted weapons, then carry them into the main part of the library and spread them out on a table. Madam Pince periodically lowers her glasses and peers over at them, obviously suspicious of the four first years who are going through a stack of incredibly dark and challenging books, and also snapping at them when they dogear a corner or bend the spine back too far.  
Scorpius is the best reader of them all, so he instructs them on how to search through the table of contents to rule out parts that won’t help them. He gets through three books in the span of fifteen minutes, writing down every possible explanation.  
“Alright, what do we have so far?” Scorpius asks after half an hour.  
“What do you have? You’ve found more than all of us combined,” Dahlia says.  
“Alright-- I think it could be a protection ritual like Albus said. Wizards in Iceland used to cut their wrists with enchanted knives, let the blood sink into the earth, and then the ground there would be untouched by evil beings. What do you think?”  
“I don’t know. That doesn’t explain why Caligo did it,” Luka says.  
“But it does explain Ardeo,” Dahlia replies.  
“Does it, though?” Albus asks. “I mean, why would he want to protect the ground in the Forbidden Forest?”  
“I don’t know,” Scorpius says. “I have more, though. It could be a sort of prayer. Pagans in Europe used to give blood to the Earth so the gods would bless them. Maybe Ardeo is pagan.”  
“It didn’t seem like a spiritual thing. It was definitely evil,” Luka says.  
“Well, here’s my last one, but I don’t know if it makes sense. There used to be this thing called bloodletting. Muggles used to do it to cure illnesses and stuff-- but wizards used the practice to get rid of evil magic in them. I wonder if Ardeo is trying to like… purify himself or something.”  
Luka thinks on this, but shakes his head once again.  
“Do you really think Ardeo would want to get rid of evil magic?”  
“I don’t know, okay? I’ve skimmed three books so far, I’ve done all I can.”  
“It’s okay,” Dahlia says. “We’ll just keep looking.”  
“You know what would help,” Luka says as he spots Rose Weasley glancing at them from across the room, “would be to talk to Rose about Ardeo. I bet she knows more about him than we do.”  
“No way,”Albus argues. “I’m not talking to her.”  
“I think Luka’s right, Al. You should talk to her,” Dahlia says.  
“She doesn’t want to talk to me!”  
“Stop being a stubborn git and just do it,” Scorpius snaps. “Seriously, you can be so melodramatic.”  
Dahlia looks at Scorpius with warning. She, nor Luka, want the fight that happened at the lake to resurface. Scorpius says, “Sorry, I just mean… I mean, who wouldn’t want to be friends with you, Al? She’s obviously jealous. So you have to be the first one to give.”  
Albus takes a deep breath, although it’s shaky.  
“Fine.”  
He stands up, lacking in confidence but walking over to Rose anyways. She doesn’t look up at him until he says, “Hey.”  
“Oh. So you finally decided to come say hi, huh? What, did your Slytherin friends decide you weren’t cool enough or something?”  
“Rose, listen, I’m sorry we haven’t been talking, but it’s just as much your fault as it is mine.”  
Rose scoffs.  
“You’re the one--”  
Albus cuts her off.  
“You don’t know what it’s been like. The whole school hates me. And I feel like all the Gryffindors hate me. Even my own family.”  
“They don’t hate you.”  
“You obviously do.”  
“I don’t,” Rose finally admits. “I’m sorry, Al, I never meant to freeze you out. I just thought… maybe, now that we’re at Hogwarts, you didn’t want to be friends anymore. I know it’s not cool to just hang out with your cousins all the time, but I really thought… I thought we would be in the same house, and we could share classes and eat lunch at the same table and make the same friends. It sucks that you’re in Slytherin, not because it’s a bad house, but because now we’re separated.”  
“Really? You thought that I was trying to ignore you?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Rose, we don’t have to be separated. You can still come eat lunch with me and my friends, and I can come over to you and your friends. And we do share some classes. I just didn’t talk to you because I thought you hated me.”  
“Well, that’s a relief.”  
“And Rose, I have to tell you something. Actually, we have to tell you something.”  
Albus leads the red-haired girl to the table where the others sit, and they explain everything about Ardeo, the forest, and Caligo. She asks questions the whole time, many of them simply in an effort to believe the story. Finally, they finish telling here, and she sits back in her chair.  
“You all are crazy.”  
“Come on Rose, you have to believe--”  
“But I believe you. Everyone in Gryffindor house knows that Ardeo sneaks out like every other weak in the middle of the night. No one knows where he goes, but I guess you all figured it out.”  
“Wait, really? He does this regularly?” Scorpius asks. Rose nods.  
“We all thought he was just causing trouble, maybe taking some friends along to vandalize the school or something. I never thought it would be something like this.”  
“Do you have an idea of what it could mean?” Luka asks.  
“No, I don’t anything more than you do. But if you could catch him while he’s sneaking out, then you might see more of this… ritual, or whatever.”  
“Wait. That’s a good idea!” Albus exclaims. “And I know just how we can catch him! But we’ll have to talk to James.”  
“What does your brother have anything to do with his?” Dahlia asks.  
“Well, he’s the one my dad gave the Invisibility Cloak to. And he also stole the Marauder’s Map from my dad’s office this summer.”  
Luka knows what Invisibility Cloak he’s talking about-- it’s the only of the Deathly Hallows that Harry Potter kept after the war. But he doesn’t know what the Marauder’s Map is, and he asks Albus.  
“It’s a map of Hogwarts,” Albus replies, “and you can also see the name and location of anyone in the school. If Ardeo is out of bed, we’ll know it, and we can follow him under the Invisibility Cloak to wherever he’s going.”  
“Okay. I guess we’ll have to talk to James tomorrow,” Rose says, standing up. “For now, I’m going to bed. Let me know if you find anything else out. And, uh, it was good to talk to you, Al.”  
“You too, Rose.”  
The girl trots away, smiling. Dahlia turns to Albus.  
“This calls for one hell of an ‘I told you so.”


	8. Blood

The next morning, Rose approaches Albus, Dahlia, Scorpius, and Luka before they even enter the Great Hall for breakfast.   
“You guys should talk to James now. We need to get that map as soon as possible,” she says. Albus nods, looking a little nervous. He and Rose walk over to the Gryffindor table where Albus’ brother sits. Dahlia, Scorpius, and Luka linger a few steps behind, listening.  
“James,” Albus says.James looks up with raised eyebrows and messy hair, his surrounding friends still laughing at a joke he made.  
“Yeah?”  
“I need a favor.”  
“What is it?” James asks.  
“It’s about… well, let’s talk in private,” Albus stutters. James looks around at his friends, but doesn’t refuse, and stands up to walk over to the entrance of the hall with his brother and his friends.  
“What do you need, Al?” James asks. Luka notices how different his hazelly-blue eyes are from Albus’ bright green ones.  
“I need your Invisibility Cloak and the Marauders Map.”  
Immediately, James’ curiosity becomes smug refusal.  
“Oh, really?” he says with raised eyebrows. “And what exactly do you need those for?”  
“That doesn’t matter, I just need to borrow them. I’ll give them back once I’m done,’ Albus says timidly. He knows he’s already losing.  
“I don’t think so. How do I know you’re not going to terrorize the school with these powerful magical objects?”  
“Stop being an idiot, James. Please. It’s not fair that you have the cloak and the map.”  
“The least you can do is let me use them for a while.”  
“Okay, fine.” James says, and Luka jumps with excitement, but Albus just crosses his arms as his brother says, “But what’s in it for me?”  
“I’ll give you ten sickles,” Albus says, exasperated. James laughs at loud.  
“Ten sickles? C’mon, Albus, you’re gonna have to do way better than that.”  
“Fine, a galleon. Fine, five galleons. Is that enough?”  
“It depends. How badly do you want that map and cloak?”  
Albus sighs angrily and turns to walk way.  
“Come on guys, he’s never gonna let us have it for a reasonable price.”  
“Wait! I have a better idea. How about you and your friends come to Hagrid’s with me tomorrow?”  
“Why?” Albus asks suspiciously.  
“Because I got detention with him and he’s having me feed Oarwiggs, and if you all help, then I can get it over with sooner.”  
“Fine, you’ve got a deal.”  
“But throw in the ten sickles, too,” James laughs. Albus rolls his eyes. “Whatever, just bring the map and cloak.”

***

On the afternoon of the next day, Albus, Rose, and Luka walk down to Hagrid’s hut, bundled up in the cold November weather. Scorpius and Dahlia stay behind to keep researching rituals while the others serve their end of the deal to get the map and cloak.  
James and Hagrid are already outside when they arrive, fishing through a large tub. Upon getting closer, Luka realizes it’s a tub of water, and that there are creatures inside. They are large, black, and not very appealing.  
“Hagrid, what are those?” Rose asks with a grimace.  
“These are Oarwiggs. I’ve had ‘em for a few months, now, and they’ve already started breeding. Today I think we can deliver their babies.”  
Albus, Rose, and Luka look at each other with bewildered expressions, and James says to them, “I told you they were gross.”  
Hagrid looks deeply offended at this, but doesn’t say anything.  
“Um, Hagrid, how cold is this water? I mean, it’s almost freezing out here.”  
“Actually, the water is warm. Oarwiggs make they’re own body heat, so it’s kind of like a nice bath for ‘em. It’ll get even warmer when they’re in labor. Should happen any second now.”  
The four horrified students wait with Hagrid until the first Oarwiggs begins to squeal. The strange bug-like animal shakes, so vigorously that it makes ripples in the water, poor Albus is instructed to hold her still while even more unfortunate Rose is asked to make sure the baby comes out properly. The whole process is obscenely disgusting, and Luka is happy when it ends.  
Which happens just in time, because just as James leaves, down comes Ardeo from the castle, a snarky expression on his mean face.  
“What are you idiots doing?”  
Ardeo’s face contorts when he sees the Oarwiggs.  
“Wow, what a perfect job for you all.”  
“Go away, Ardeo, we’re busy,” Luka says.  
“Definitely looks like it. Why don’t I help out?”  
“Go away!” Albus says.  
“Hm. I would be nicer to be if I were you,” Ardeo sneers.  
“Why is that?” Rose demands, crossing her arms.  
“Because I have something of a… secret weapon. Something to… you know, hurt whoever bothers me. And you all are definitely a bother.”  
‘What’s that supposed to mean?” Luka yells. “Are you saying that you’re planning on using this secret weapon against us?”  
“Depends, I guess. You’re definitely annoying, so my weapon might hurt you. It’s definitely get Potter. This world doesn’t need a disappointment like him around.”  
The two wands fly out at the same time, each emitting their own spell. One of them blasts Ardeo backwards, and the other is very obviously a Bat-Bogey Hex.  
“Rose?” Luka asks her. “Did you really do that?”  
“Did you really do that?” Rose laughs. Albus smiles at them, but says,  
“You shouldn’t have done that, guys.”  
“Yeh really shouldn't've,” Hagrid says. Luka almost forgot he was there.  
“Oh no, Hagrid, please don’t get them in trouble,” Albus begs, but Hagrid stops him.  
“Don’t worry, kid. I won’t get ‘em in trouble. I would’a done the same thing. What that boy said… well, I ought to get ‘im up to the castle, I’ll take ‘im to Madam Pomfrey. An’ I won’ say anything,” he winks.  
“Did you hear what he said?” Luka asks Albus and Rose once Hagrid is gone. “Ardeo says he has a weapon.”  
The three of them run up to the castle to tell Scorpius and Dahlia, but they meet in the middle, each group just as eager to share with the other.  
“Ardeo says he has a ‘secret weapon’ and he’s going to hurt Albus!” Rose says.  
“It’s funny he said that, because we know what it is,” Scorpius grins. “He’s summoning a monster. That’s got to be it. There’s some really ancient magic that he’s using where human blood can be used to fabricate a monster. I think he was collecting blood that night, to use in this kind of potion that can create a monster. I’m not really sure what the monster is-- the book didn’t say. All I know is that it can take lives.”  
“So do you think he already made the monster?” Albus asks.  
“I’m not sure. But I know some of the ingredients for the potion, so we’ll just have to see what he’s been up to, if he’s collected all of them.”  
“That’s where the map will come in handy,” Albus says.  
And he’s right. Every night, the boys take shifts in staring at Ardeo’s spot on the map, making sure that he stays in his dormitory. Each shift is about three hours, so each boy is rather exhausted every morning, yawning over their breakfast, talking to Dahlia and Rose about how they found nothing last night.  
“I can’t believe he still hasn’t done anything,” Scorpius says one night in the common room. “It’s been over a month. He hasn’t attacked us, he hasn’t left his common room one single night, and he hasn’t even bragged about his monster to us. What’s going on?”  
“I don’t know,” Luka yawns. “But he’d better do something soon. I’m getting tired of being tired.”  
“Me, too,” Albus says. “I just wish we could figure what he was doing.”  
“Maybe we should go to the library. I mean, I was almost positive that it was the monster ritual, but maybe he’s doing something else.”  
“Whatever,” Luka says, too tired to say he’s too tired to go to the library.  
“Let’s go, we won’t be out late. And let’s take Dahlia.”  
The three boys invite Dahlia, who is doing homework across the room, to go to the library with them, and she agrees. They head out of the common room into the rest of the castle, which is quiet in it’s post-dinner state. Luka thinks about how peaceful it is, to be going to the cozy, book filled room with his three best friends, on a quiet, winter night.  
And then a sharp pain shoots through Luka’s arm. With time, and the laceration-healing potion Luka’s been applying every night, the cut Caligo made this summer has turned into nothing but a slightly tender scar. But now, it feels as though he’s been cut again. It’s not agonizing, but it makes Luka yelp. Then, another flash of pain hits, and this time it’s deeper, as if electricity is zapping the inside of his arm. Luka yells out, blinded by pain, unable to hear what his friends are saying. Then, for a third time, the pain intensifies. This time, it’s the whole body that hurts. Luka feels himself falling to his knees. His head touches the floor and he grabs his left arm, squeezing it, willing the pain to stop. He doesn’t know if his friends are still there, what they are saying, or if anyone else has come to help. He thinks he might be screaming, but he can’t be sure. All he knows is the hot, hot, hot pain.  
And then, like one bright candle being lit miles of vast darkness, Luka has an idea. The absurdity of the idea does not even cross Luka’s mind. All he knows is that even the thought of doing it makes the pain better.  
“Knife. Get… knife,” Luka says through gritted teeth. He can make out the shape of Dahlia in front of him, her eyes shiny with tears of horror.  
“What? Luka, what did you say?”  
“Get… a knife.”  
“You want us to bring you a knife?”  
“Yes,” Luka says, even though speaking takes every drop of his power.  
“That’s ridiculous, Luka what do you mean?”  
When she declines Luka’s aching request, her figure becomes blurry again and her voice fades, because he can’t stand to listen to anything but a yes. Instead of speaking, Luka uses the last bit of his energy to reach into his bag and pull out his quill. He sighs with relief when he sees it, and hurriedly presses the sharp point into the soft skin of his inner arm. Dark blood begins to leak out, and it feels as though Luka’s burning body was dipped into cool water. Slowly, sight and sound come back to him, and he hears the screams of Dahlia next to him. He also hears Albus and Scorpius calling for help. But all Luka feels is euphoria; the deepest relief he’s ever felt.  
“Luka! Luka, we need to take you to the hospital wing!”  
“NO!” Luka shouts, suddenly coming back to himself. “We cannot do that. Madam Pomfrey can’t see this. We don’t know- we don’t know what it is.”  
“But Luka,” Dahlia sobs, “what’s happening to you?”  
“I think I can walk,” Luka says, “but you’ll have to help me. Let’s go back to the common room.”  
With much effort, the three children carry their friend back the way they came, through the stony passageways that lead back to the safe, cozy room. Luckily, it’s deserted, and the four first years have it to themselves. They Luka on one of the black couches and Dahlia wraps his arm while Albus gets him water. Scorpius asks him about what happened, and Luka explains.  
“It just… hurt. A lot,” he says. “So badly that nothing else mattered. It was so simple to me. I just knew, somewhere really deep down, that bleeding would make it better.”  
“That’s horrible,” Dahlia whispers angrily as she finishing wrapping the wound. “Why would this be happening to you?”  
“It was Caligo,” Luka says weakly. “He did this. Something he did when he cut me made me like this.”  
The group just stares at each other in horror until Luka falls asleep on the couch.

***

 

Over the next few months, Luka learns more about whatever is happening to him. Because after that first night, the cut on his arm begins to pain him. Not because it isn’t healing-- it actually hurts more the less intense the cut gets. And when Luka is having a really bad day, the pain is even worse. It takes about one month for it to start aching almost as painfully as it did before, and Luka talks to the other three about it.  
“The only way I can feel better is if I bleed. I don’t know what else to do.”  
“But Luka, how can that be a good thing? It’s so dangerous, what if you went too far?”  
“That’s why I want you all to help me. I think… I think Ardeo has whatever I have. I don’t think he’s summoning a monster, it’s almost like we’re… infected with something. And I need to do what he does. I need to cut. I need somewhere where I can do it safely, where no one will see me. And I can’t do it in the Forbidden Forest, since it’s too likely that Ardeo will be there.”  
“I think I might know a place, Luka,” Albus says. “It’s where Teddy used to go, and his dad, too, at the full moon, when they had to turn. It’s the Shrieking Shack.”  
“In Hogsmeade?” Luka asks.  
“Yeah. There’s a passageway in the school that will lead us there. It would be a perfect place. The Shrieking Shack is named that for a reason-- if you do have to yell like that again, it wouldn’t be suspicious.”  
“Well then, we’ll have to go the Shrieking Shack soon. I can feel it building up. I’m going to need to do it again.”  
Everyone sits there, thinking solemnly. Then Dahia asks, “Luka? What if the secret weapon Ardeo was talking about had to do with this? And what if wasn’t a monster? What if you… what if you have the same secret weapon?”  
“If so,” Luka says, “I’d be willing to use it.”


End file.
